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I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. % 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA^ ^5 



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V. 



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BEAUTIES 



AMERICAN HISTORY. 



.r-m-miiiimlffll iM'H i) 




BY THE AUTHOR OF 

EVENINaS IN BOSTON, &c. 



,V 



a 



NEW Y O R K : 
PUBLISHED BY ALEXANDER V. BLAKE, 

77 FULTON STREET. 






D7S 

.3 



Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1843, by 

ALEXANDER V. BLAKE, 

in the clerk's office of the district court of the United States, 

for the Southern district of New York. 



i 



I 



3. FAGAN, STEREOTYPER. 



(4) 



PREFACE. 

There are many passages in the History of 
the United States which are peculiarly fitted to 
inspire in the young mind the love of country, 
and the admiration of what is great, heroic, 
and noble, in the human character; and to 
elevate the standard of public virtue in the 
juvenile breast. It has been the purpose of 
the author of this volume to select some of the 
most striking of these historical beauties, and 
to present them in an attractive form to the 
young. He has deemed it unnecessary to pay 
much attention to chronological order ; because 
the history of our country is judiciously made 
a branch of study in the common schools ; so 
that almost every young person is qualified to 
refer every event to its proper date. The 
moral and patriotic features of each delineation 
have been regarded as most attractive. The 
love of country and the love of virtue have 
been considered the most important objects in 
view. The youth of America have noble ex- 
amples before them. May they never forget 
that they are the countrymen of Washington, 

and of . There is a long list of 

worthies ; but that name is enough. 

1* (5) 



CONTENTS 



Discovery of America by the Northmen Page 9 

Landing of Columbus 18 

Discovery of the Pacific Ocean by Nunez de Balboa. ... 21 

Coligny and his Colony in Florida 24 

Voyage of Amidas and Barlow 29 

Voyage of Gilbert and Gosnold 34 

Settlement of St. Mary's 37 

Landing of the Pilgrims 41 

The Treaty with Massasoit 45 

Sir William Phips 47 

First English Conquest of Canada 51 

Settlement of Connecticut 53 

Benevolent exertions of Elliot and Mayhew 57 

Escape of Mr. Dustan 65 

The Bell of St. Regis 67 

John Winthrop „ . . . . 75 

Goffe the Regicide 78 

Judicial Integrity 79 

Early Heroism of Washington 80 

Colonel M'Lane 81 

Governor Johnstone's attempt on Mr. Reed 85 

American Courtesy 86 

Capture of Stony Point 87 

Daniel Boone 90 

Brilliant Exploit of Colonel Barton 92 

Mrs. Warren, the Historian 93 

Benjamin West, a Soldier 96 

Samuel Adams 98 

Firmness of Adams 100 

Captain George Little 102 

General Lee 104 

Early American Heroism 106 

Exploit of Mr. Jasper 109 

Death of Captain Biddle 115 

Conquest of New York 119 

Hickory Clubs 122 

Mrs. Abigail Adams 123 

Washington's Farewell 127 

Preservation of the Connecticut Charter 129 

(7) 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

Expedition of de la Barre 131 

Evacuation of New York by the British 134 

Founding of Harvard College 135 

Battle of Bunker Hill 137 

Paul Jones 139 

Chief Justice Marshall 140 

Flight of Horses 144 

Death before Dishonour 146 

Death of Baron de Kalb 148 

The Wife of Washington 152 

Penn's Treaty 156 

Young American Tar 159 

Boston Massacre 161 

The Brave not Mercenary 163 

Don't give up the Vessel 164 

Heroic Exploit of Peter Francisco 165 

Destruction of the Gaspee 167 

Destruction of the Tea in Boston 168 

Spirited Conduct of Captain Wadsworth 172 

General Oglethorpe's Defence of Georgia 174 

Frank Lilly 179 

Capture of Quebec 183 

Lafayette 191 

Washington appointed Commander-in-Chief 197 

The Tripolitan War 199 

Bombardment of Tripoli 202 

Destruction of the Intrepid 204 

Romantic Expedition of General Eaton 206 

General Harrison's Expedition against the Indians 208 

Perry's Victory and its Consequences 209 

Naval Victories of 1812 211 

Capture of Louisbomg 213 

James Otis's Resistance of the Writs of Assistance. • . . 217 

Retirement of Wasliington from the Presidency 219 

Noble Defence of Charleston 222 

Battle of Eutaw Springs 229 

Battle of Trenton, 1776 230 

Battle of Princeton 234 

Siege of Yorktown 237 

Battle of New Orleans 245 

Battle of Plattsburg and Lake Champlain 249 

Algerine War of 1815 250 



BEAUTIES OF 

AMERICAN HISTORY, 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY THE NORTHMEN. 

One of the most curious facts connected with 
American history, is its alleged discovery by a 
native of Iceland. The following are the facts, 
as recorded by the ancient sagas, and the au- 
thorities followed by Snorro Sturleson. — Her- 
julf, a descendant of Ingulf, and his son Biarn, 
subsisted by trading between Iceland and Nor- 
way, in the latter of which countries they 
generally passed the winter. One season, their 
vessels being as usual divided, for the greater 
convenience of traffic, Biarn did not find his 
father in Norway, who, he was informed, had 
proceeded to Greenland, then just discovered. 
He had never visited that country ; but he 
steered westward for many days, until a strong 
north wind bore him considerably to the south. 
After a long interval he arrived in sight of a 
low, woody country, which, compared with the 
description he had received of the other, and 
from the route he had taken, could not, he was 
sure, be Greenland. Proceeding to the south- 
west, he reached the latter country, and joined 

(9) 



10 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

his father, who was located at Herjulfsnoes, a 
promontory opposite to the western coast of 
Iceland. 

(A. D. 1001.) The information which Biarn 
gave of this discovery induced Leif, son of 
Eric the Red, the discoverer of Greenland, to 
equip a vessel for the unknown country. With 
thirty-five persons he sailed from Herjulfsnoes 
towards the south, in the direction indicated 
by Biarn. Arriving at a flat, stony coast, with 
mountains, however, covered with snow, visible 
at a great distance, they called it Hellu-land. 
Proceeding still southwards, they came to a 
woody, but rather flat coast, which they called 
Mark-land. A brisk north wind blowing for 
two days and two nights, brought them to a 
finer coast, woody and undulating, and abound- 
ing with natural productions. Towards the 
north this region was sheltered by an island; 
but there was no port until they had proceeded 
farther to the west. There they landed ; and 
as there was abundance of fish, in a river 
which flowed into the bay, they ventured there 
to pass the winter. They found the nights and 
days less unequal than in Iceland and Norway; 
on the very shortest (Dec. 21st,) the sun rising 
at half-past seven, and setting at half-past four. 
From some wild grapes which they found a few 
miles from the shore, they denominated the 
country Vinland, or Winland. The following 
spring they returned to Greenland. 

This description, as the reader will readily 
recognize, can apply only to North America. 



DISCOVERY BY THE NORTHMEN. 11 

The first of the coasts which Leif and his navi- 
gators saw, must have been Newfoundland, or 
Labrador ; the second was probably the coast 
of New Brunswick ; the third was Maine. The 
causes which led to the voyage, the names, the 
incidents, are so natural and so connected, as 
to bear the impress of truth. And Snorro, the 
earliest historian of the voyage, was not an in- 
ventor ; he related events as he received them 
from authorities which no longer exist, or from 
tradition. Neither he nor his countrymen en- 
tertained the slightest doubt that a new and 
extensive region had been discovered. The 
sequel will corroborate the belief that they 
were right. 

(1004 to 1008.) The next chief that visited 
Vinland was Thorwald, another son of Eric 
the Red. With thirty companions he proceeded 
to the coast, and wintered in the tent which 
had sheltered his brother Leif. The two fol- 
lowing summers were passed by him in exa- 
mining the regions both to the west and the 
east ; and, from the description in the Icelandic 
sagas, we may infer that he coasted the shore 
from Massachusetts to Labrador. Until the 
second season, no inhabitants appeared ; but 
two, who had ventured alonor the shore in their 
frail canoes, were taken, and most impolitically, 
as well as most inhumanly, put to death. These 
were evidently Esquimaux, whose short stature 
and features resembled those of the western 
Greenlanders. To revenge the murder of their 
countrymen, a considerable number of the in- 



12 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

habitants now appeared in their small boats ; 
but their arrows being unable to make any im- 
pression on the wooden defences, they precipi- 
tately retired. In this short skirmish, however, 
Thorwald received a mortal wound ; and was 
buried on the next promontory, with a cross at 
his head and another at his feet, a proof that he 
had embraced Christianity. Having passed 
another winter, his companions returned to 
Greenland- The following year Thorstein, an- 
other son of Eric the Red, embarked for the 
same place with his wife Gudrida and twenty- 
five companions ; but they were driven by the 
contending elements to the remote western 
coast of Greenland, where they passed the win- 
ter in great hardships. His adventure was 
fatal to Thorstein, whose corpse was taken 
back to the colony by his widow. 

(1C09.) The first serious attempt at colo- 
nizing Vinland was made by a Norwegian 
chief, Thorfin, who had removed to Greenland, 
and married the widowed Gudrida. With 
sixty companions, some domestic animals, im- 
plements of husbandry, and an abundance of 
dried provisions, he proceeded to the coast 
where Thorwald had died. There he erected 
his tentSj which he surrounded by a strong 
palisade, to resist the assaults, whether open or 
secret, whether daily or nocturnal, of the na- 
tives. They came in considerable numbers to 
offer peltries and other productions for such 
commodities as the strangers could spare. 
Above all, we are assured, they w^anted arms, 



DISCOVERY BY THE NORTHMEN. 13 

which Thorwald would not permit to be soM ,• 
yet, if an anecdote be true, their knowledge of 
such weapons must have been limited indeed. 
One of the savages took up an axe, ran with it 
into the woods, and displayed it with much 
triumph to the rest. To try its virtues, he 
struck one that stood near him ; and the latter, 
to the horror of all present, fell dead at his 
feet. A chief took it from him, regarded it for 
some time with anger, and then cast it into the 
sea. Thorfin remained three years in Vinland, 
where a son was born to him ; and after va- 
rious voyages to different parts of the north, 
ended his days in Iceland. His widow made 
the pilgrimage to Rome ; and on her return to 
the island retired to a convent which he had 
erected. Many, however, of the colonists 
whom he had led to Vinland remained, and 
were ultimately joined by another body under 
Helgi and Finnbogi, two brothers from Green- 
land. But the latter had the misfortune to be 
accompanied by a treacherous and evil woman, 
Freydisa, a daughter of Eric the Red, and who 
in a short time excited a quarrel, which proved 
fatal to about thirty of the colonists. Detested 
for her vices, she was constrained to return to 
Greenland ; but the odour of her evil name re- 
mained with her ; she lived despised, and died 
unlamented. 

(1026 to 1121.) Towards the close of the 

reign of Olaf, the saint, an Icelander, named 

Gudlief, embarked for Dublin. The vessel 

being driven by boisterous winds far from its 

2 



14 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

direct course, towards the south-west, ap- 
proached an unknown shore. He and the 
crew were soon seized by the natives, and car- 
ried into the interior. Here, however, to their 
great surprise, they were accosted by a venera- 
ble chief in their own language, who inquired 
after some individuals of Iceland. He refused 
to tell his name ; but, as he sent a present to 
Thurida, the sister of Snorro Gode, and an- 
other for her son, no doubt was entertained 
that he was the scald Biarn, who had been her 
lover, and who had left Iceland thirty years 
before that time. The natives were described 
of a red colour, and cruel to strangers ; indeed, 
it required all the influence of the friendly 
chief, to rescue Gudlief and his companions 
from destruction. From this period to 1050, 
we hear no more of the northern colony esta- 
blished by Thorfin ; but in that year a priest 
went from Iceland to Vinland to preach Chris- 
tianity. His end was tragical, — a proof that 
if any of the original settlers had been chris- 
tians, they had reverted to idolatry. In 1121, 
a bishop embarked from Greenland for the 
same destination, and with the same object; 
but of the result no record exists. We hear 
no more, indeed, of the colony, or of Vinland, 
until the latter half of the fourteenth century, 
when the two Venetians Zeni are said to have 
visited that part of the world. From that 
time to the discovery of the New World by 
Columbus, there was no communication — none, 
at least, that is known — between it and the 
north of Europe. 



DISCOVERY BY THE NORTHMEN. 15 

This circumstance has induced many to doubt 
of the facts which have been related. If, they 
contend, North America were really discovered 
and repeatedly visited by the Icelanders, how 
came a country, so fertile in comparison with 
that island, or with Greenland, or even Nor- 
way, to be so suddenly abandoned ? This is 
certainly a difficulty ; but a greater one, in our 
opinion, is involved in the rejection of all the 
evidence that has been adduced. It is not 
Snorro only who mentions Vinland : many other 
sagas do the same ; and even before Snorro, Ad- 
am, of Bremen, obtained from the lips of Sweyn 
II., King of Denmark, a confirmation of the 
alleged discovery. For relations so numerous and 
so uniform, for circumstances so naturally and so 
graphically related, there must have been some 
foundation. Even fiction does not invent, it 
only exaggerates. There is nothing improba- 
ble in the alleged voyages. The Scandinavians 
were the best navigators in the world. From 
authentic and indubitable testimony we know 
that their vessels visited every sea from the 
Mediterranean to the Baltic, from the extremity 
of the Finland Gulf to the entrance at least of 
Davis' Straits. Men thus familiar with distant 
seas must have made a greater progress in the 
science of navigation than we generally allow. 
The voyage from Reykiavik, in Iceland, to Cape 
Farewell, is not longer than that from the south- 
western extremity of Iceland — once well colo- 
nized — to the eastern coast of Labrador. But 
does the latter country itself exhibit, in modern 



16 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

times, any vestiges of a higher civilization than 
"we could expect to find if no Europeans had 
ever visited it ? So at least the Jesuit mission- 
aries inform us. They found the cross, a know- 
ledge of the stars, a superior kind of worship, 
a more ingenious mind, among the inhabitants 
of the coast which is thought to have been colo- 
nized from Greenland. They even assure us 
that many Norwegian words are to be found in 
the dialect of the people. The causes which 
led to the destruction of the settlement were 
probably similar to those which produced the 
same eflect in Greenland. A handful of colo- 
nists, cut off from all communication with the 
mother country, and consequently deprived of 
the means of repressing their savage neighbours, 
could not be expected always to preserve their 
original characteristics. They would either be 
exterminated by hostilities, or driven to amal- 
gamate with the nativ. ; probably both causes 
led to this unfortunate result. The only diffi- 
culty in this subject is that which we have be- 
fore mentioned, viz., the sudden and total cessa- 
tion of all intercourse with Iceland or Green- 
land ; and even this must diminish when we 
remember that in the fourteenth century the 
Norwegian colony in Greenland disappeared in 
the same manner, after a residence in the coun- 
try of more than three hundred j^ears. On 
weighing the preceding circumstances, and the 
simple natural language in which they are re- 
corded, few men not born in Italy or Spain will 
deny to the Scandinavians the claim of having 



DISCOVERY BY THE NORTHMEN. 



n 



been the original discoverers of the New World. 
Even Robertson, imperfectly acquainted as he 
was with the links in this chain of evidence, 
dared not wholly to reject it. Since his day, 
the researches of the northern critics, and a 
more attentive consideration of the subject, 
have caused most writers to mention it with 
respect. 




2* 



18 



BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY, 




LANDING OF COLUMBUS. 



On the eleventh of October the indications of 
land became more and more certain. A reed 
quite green floated by the vessel ; and a little 
after some kind of fish were seen, which were 
known to abound in the vicinity of rocks. The 
Pinta picked up the trunk of a bamboo and a 
plank rudely carved. The Nina saw a branch 
of a tree with berries on it. They sounded at 
sunset, and found bottom. The wind was now 
unequal ; and this last circumstance completely 
satisfied the mind of Columbus that land was 
not far off. The crew assembled as usual for 
evening prayer. As soon as the service was 
concluded, Columbus desired his people to re- 
turn thanks to God for having preserved them 



LANDING OF COLUMBUS. 19 

in so long and dangerous a voyage, and assured 
them that the indications of land were now too 
certain to be doubted. He recommended them 
to look out carefully during the night, for that 
they should surely discover land before the 
morning ; and he promised a suit of velvet to 
whoever first descried it, independent of the 
pension of ten thousand maravedis which he 
was to receive from the king. About ten o'clock 
at night, while Columbus was sitting at the 
stern of his vessel, he saw a light, and pointed 
it out to Pedro Gutieres : they both called San- 
chez de Segovia, the armourer, but before he 
came it had disappeared : they saw it, never- 
theless, return twice afterwards. At two o'clock 
after midnight, the Pinta, which was ahead, 
made the signal of land. It was in the night 
of the eleventh of October, 1492, after a voyage 
of thirty-five days, that the New World was 
discovered. The men longed impatiently for 
day : they wished to feast their eyes with the 
sight of that land for which they had sighed so 
long, and which the majority of them had des- 
paired of ever seeing. At length day broke, 
and they enjoyed the prospect of hills and val- 
leys clad in delicious verdure. The three ves- 
sels steered towards it at sunrise. The crew 
of the Pinta, which preceded, commenced chant- 
ing the Te Deum ; and all sincerely thanked 
Heaven for the success of their voyage. They 
saw as they approached a number of men col- 
lected on the shore. Columbus embarked in 
his cutter, with Alonzo and Yanez Pinzon, car- 



20 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

rying the royal standard in his hand. The mo- 
ment he and all his crew set foot on land, they 
erected a crucifix, and prostrating themselves 
before it, with tears in their eyes, thanked God 
for the goodness he had manifested towards 
them. When Columbus rose, he named the 
island Sa?i Salvador, and took possession of it 
in the name of the king of Spain, in the midst 
of the astonished natives, w^ho surrounded and 
surveyed him in silence. Immediately the Cas- 
tilians proclaimed him admiral and viceroy of 
the Indies, and swore obedience to him. The 
sense of the glory which they had acquired re- 
called them to their duty, and they begged par- 
don of the admiral for all the vexations they 
had caused him. 




mSCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 



21 




DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN BY 
NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 

This enterprising officer, being placed in 
command of Darien, made numerous incursions 
on the territories of the neighbouring caciques, 
in the course of which he received intelligence 
from the Indians of a great sea a few days' 
journey to the south. This he justly concluded 
to be the ocean which Columbus had so long 
sought in vain. Inflamed with the idea of ef- 
fecting a discovery which that great man had 
been unable to accomplish, and eager to reap 
the first harvest of victory in countries said to 
abound with gold, he boldly determined to 
march across the isthmus, and witness with his 



22 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

own eyes the truth of what he heard. But, in 
the execution of his design, he had to contend 
with every difficulty which could be opposed to 
him by the hand of nature or the hostility of 
the natives : he had to lead his troops, worn out 
with fatigue and the diseases of a noxious cli- 
mate, through deep marshes, rendered nearly 
impassable by perpetual rains, over mountains 
covered with trackless forests, and through de- 
files, from w^hich the Indians, in secure ambus- 
cade, showered down poisoned arrows. But 
no sufferings could damp the courage of the 
Spaniards in that enterprising age; Balboa sur- 
mounted every impediment. As he approached 
the object of his research, he ran before his 
companions to the summit of a mountain, from 
which he surveyed, with transports of delight, 
the boundless ocean which rolled beneath ; then 
hurrying to the shore, he plunged into the 
waves, and claimed the sovereignty of the 
Southern Ocean for the crown of Castile. This 
event took place in September 1513. The in- 
habitants of the coast on which he had arrived 
gave him to understand that the land towards 
the south was ivithout end; that it was pos- 
sessed by powerful nations, who had abundance 
of gold, and who employed beasts of burden. 
These allusions to the civilization and riches 
of Peru, Balboa supposed to apply to those In- 
dies w^hich it was the grand object of European 
ambition to approach ; and the rude sketches 
of the Peruvian lama, drawn by the Indians on 
the sand, as they resembled the figure of the 



DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 



23 



camel, served to confirm him in his error. De- 
lighted with the importance of his discovery, 
he immediately despatched messengers to Spain, 
to give an account of his proceedings, and to 
solicit an appointment corresponding to his ser- 
vices. But the Spanish court was more liberal 
in exciting enterprise than in rewarding merit, 
and preferred new adventurers to old servants. 
The government of Darien was bestowed on 
Pedrarias Davila, who, regarding Balboa with 
the hatred which conscious weakness always 
bears towards superior worth, meditated un- 
ceasingly the destruction of his rival. He at 
length found an occasion to satisfy his ven- 
geance; and the heroic Balboa was publicly 
executed in Darien, in 1517, affording another 
instance of the unhappy fate which attended 
the first conquerors of America. 




24 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 



COLIGNY AND HIS COLONY IN FLORIDA. 

[See Frontispiece.] 

Among the many characters distinguished in 
European history, there is scarcely any one 
more deserving the attention of the American 
patriot than the celebrated Admiral Coligny. 
If the Pilgrim Fathers of New England are 
worthy of all praise, for founding an asylum for 
religious liberty, Coligny is not less to be com- 
mended for having planned and attempted a 
colony for the same purpose, and that too upon 
our own shores ; and while they gain the ap- 
plause which results from brilliant success, he 
should not be refused the reverence and sym- 
pathy which are due to greatness, virtue, and 
above all, misfortune. 

The Admiral de Coligny was born at Catil- 
lon-sur-Loin, in they ear 1516, of noble parents, 
and received the best education that the times 
afforded. He was brought up in the Protestant 
faith, from which he never swerved during his 
whole life. In his youth he distinguished him- 
self in several battles, under the reigns of Fran- 
cis I. and Henry H., by his great bravery and 
skill. After the death of the last mentioned 
king, Catherine de Medici was declared regent, 
and by her rigorous acts against the Protestants, 
she caused them to rise in arms. The Prince 
de Conde and Admiral Coligny were chosen as 
commanders of all the Protestant forces. After 



COUGNY AND HIS COLONY IN FLORIDA. 25 

the death of Conde, which happened at the bat- 
tle of Jarnac, the whole command devolved 
upon Coligny ; and well did he prove himself 
worthy of the trust reposed in him. He car- 
ried on the war against the troops of Catherine 
with various success, sometimes conquering, 
sometimes suffering a defeat, but never permit- 
ting himself to be disheartened, however great 
his loss might be. Catherine de Medici, find- 
ing, at length, that she could not exterminate 
the Protestants by force of arms, resolved to 
do so by stratagem. She therefore concluded 
a peace with them, and invited the principal of 
thom to court, where they were receiv-ed with 
tJ.e greatest apparent cordiality. But Coligny, 
k owing the treachery of the queen, and sus- 
pecting some plot to be concealed under this 
veil of kindness, resolved to defeat her ends. 
For this purpose he intended to form a colony 
in the New World, where the Protestants, should 
circumstances hereafter compel them, might re- 
tire and live in peace and security. With this 
design, in the year 156*2, he sent out an expe- 
dition consisting of two ships, under the com- 
mand of John Ribaut. These vessels arrived 
on the coast of Florida in the month of May in 
the same year, and Ribaut entered a river 
which he called the May, but which was sub- 
sequently named San Mateo, by the Spaniards ; 
it is now called St. John's. Here he erected a 
column (of stones,) on which was inscribed the 
arms of France, as a token of possession ; he 
then sailed farther north, and left a colony at 
3 



26 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

the bay of Port Royal. But this colony, on 
account of dissensions among the chiefs, was 
soon abandoned. A short time afterwards, 
Coligny sent out three other vessels, under the 
command of Laudonniere. He reached Florida 
on the 20th of June, 1564, and sailed up the 
river May. Here he found the column which 
had been left by Ribaut still in existence, and 
decorated with garlands of flowers, which the 
Indians had hung around it, and which the 
chief Saturiova now showed him with great 
apparent gratification. Laudonniere, struck 
with the beauty of the place, determined to 
form his settlement here, and commenced build- 
ing a fortress, which he called Fort Carolina. 
But a scarcity of provisions arose, and the 
colonists became discontented, and desired to 
return to their native country. Laudonniere 
withstood their demands as long as possible, 
but finally yielding to their importunity, he 
embarked on the 28th of August, and began his 
voyage; but he had sailed only a short distance 
when he met with a fleet of several vessels, 
commanded by Ribaut, who was appointed to 
succeed him in the command. They, therefore, 
all returned, and the colony soon advanced to 
a more flourishing condition. But things were 
not long allowed to remain in this state. On 
the 20th of September an expedition of the 
Spaniards, under Melendez, arrived at the fort, 
and, with the exception of women and chil- 
dren, massacred every living soul. This proved 
a death-blow to all the hopes of Coligny ; and 



27 

hus the colony which, had it been suffered to 
lave flourished, would have saved France a 
civil war, and prevented the great massacre 
of St. Bartholomew's day, was entirely de- 
stroyed. 

Charles IX. and Catherine now began to dis- 
play their hostility more openly than ever 
against the Protestant religion. They imposed 
such rigorous exactions upon its professors, that 
they once more rose in arms, and once more 
Coligny led them to battle. Here he met with 
various success ; but, on the whole, fortune 
seemed to incline in his favour. Catherine, at 
last, despairing of ever conquering the Protest- 
ants in the field, again concluded a treaty with 
him. Coligny was invited to Paris, where he 
was received with the most distinguished marks 
of favour. He had one hundred thousand 
francs given him by Charles IX, as an in- 
demnity for his losses in the wars, and was 
admitted to a seat in the council. 

Things continued in this condition until the 
nio[ht of St. Bartholomew's, the 24th of Ausjust, 
1572, a night in which one of the most horrible 
transactions that ever disgraced humanity oc- 
curred; a night in which thousands of innocent 
beings were sent to their final account without 
previous warning; a night in which deeds were 
perpetrated (the result not more of religious 
than political animosity) which are now equally 
reprobated by Catholic and Protestant. Par- 
ticular orders had been given to prevent all 
chance of Coligny's escape. The Duke of 



28 BEAUTIES OF A^TERICAN HISTORY. 

Guise, with a band of miscreants, hastened to 
his house, which they surrounded. A man by 
the name of Besme then entered the room in 
which Coligny was sitting. " Art thou Colig- 
ny ?" said he ; "I am he indeed," said the ad- 
miral ; " young man, you ought to respect my 
grey hairs ; but, do what you will, you can 
shorten my life only by a few days." Besme 
immediately plunged his sword into his body, 
and his companions pierced him with many 
wounds. The body was then thrown out of 
the window into the street, where Guise was 
impatiently waiting to see it. He wiped the 
blood off his face, in order to recognize the 
features, and then gave orders to cut off his 
head, which he sent to Catherine. This head 
w^as then embalmed and sent to the pope, w^hilst 
his body remained in the street, exposed to 
every indignity from the ferocious rabble. 

Thus perished Coligny, one of the greatest 
and most remarkable men that France ever 
produced. Well might his enemies exult in 
his fall ; for he was the bulwark of the cause 
which he had espoused. With him perished the 
best hopes of Protestantism in France. The 
succeeding leader renounced the faith ; and 
then there followed persecution, exile and apos- 
tacy, till the Revolution levelled all distinc- 
tions, and seemed, for a time, to have extin- 
guished all religion with a deluge of political 
fanaticism. 



VOYAGE OF AMIDAS AND BARLOW. 



29 




VOYAGE OF AMIDAS AND BARLOW. 



Captain Philip Amidas and Captain Arthur 
Barlow, set sail from the west of England on 
the 27th of April, 1584, and the 10th of May- 
arrived at the Canaries, from whence they bent 
their course to the Caribbee Islands, which they 
made on the 10th of June, keeping a more south- 
erly course than they needed to have done, as 
they themselves observed afterwards, appre- 
hending that the current set so strong to the 
northward on the coast of Florida or Virginia, 
that there was no stemming it ; and that mis- 
take made them go two or three thousand miles 
out of their way : however, they arrived at the 
Island of Wokokon, near the coast of Virginia, 
3* 



30 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

or rather of North Carolina (of which this coun- 
try is now reckoned a part) and took possession 
thereof in the name of Queen Elizabeth, whom 
they proclaimed rightful queen and sovereign 
of the same, to the use of Mr. Raleigh, accord- 
ing to her Majesty's grant. But they soon dis- 
covered it to be but an island of twenty miles 
in length, and six in breadth, and lying in 34 
degrees odd minutes north latitude; the land 
producing cedars, cypress, pines, and vast quan- 
tities of grapes ; nor was there any want of 
deer, hare, rabbits, and wild fowl. 

After they had continued here three days, an 
Indian came on board them, and was entertain- 
ed in the ship ; after which he caught some fish 
and presented to the English ; and the next day 
Granganimo, the brother of Wingina, King of 
Wingandacoa (as the neighbouring continent 
was called) came down with forty or fifty of 
his people to the sea-side. Whereupon several 
English officers w^ent over to him, and were in- 
vited to sit down with him on the mats that 
were spread for that purpose, the Prince strik- 
ing his head and his breast, and making a great 
many signs to signify they were heartily wel- 
come, as they apprehended. Whereuvon they 
made him some small presents, as th y did to 
four of his people, who sat on the lower end of 
the same mat ; but the Prince took away the 
things from his men, intimating that they were 
his servants, and that all presents were to be 
made to him. And having taken leave of the 
English, he returned with more of his people 



VOYAGE OF AMID AS AND BARLOW. 31 

two days after, bringing deer-skins, buff, and 
other peltry to trade with them. Whereupon 
they showed Granganimo all their merchandise, 
of which nothing pleased him so much as a 
bright pewter-dish : he took it up, clapped it 
upon his breast, and having made a hole in the 
brim, hung it about his neck, intimating it would 
be a good shield against his enemies' arrows. 
This pewter-dish they exchanged for twenty 
skins, worth twenty nobles, and a copper-kettle 
for fifty skins, worth as many crowns. They 
offered also a very advantageous exchange for 
their axes, hatchets, and knives, and would have 
given anything for their swords ; but the Eng- 
lish would not part with them. 

Two or three days after, the king's brother 
came on board their ships, and eat and drank 
with them, and seemed to relish their wine and 
food very well, and some few days after he 
brought his wife and daughter, and several more 
of his children with him. His wife had good 
features, but was not tall ; she appeared exceed- 
ing modest, and had a cloak or mantle of a skin, 
with the fur next her body, and another piece 
of a skin before her. About her head she had 
a coronet of white coral, and in her ears pen- 
dants of pearls, about the size of peas, hanging 
down to her middle, and she had bracelets on 
her arms. Her husband also wore a coronet or 
band of white coral about his head sometimes, 
but usually a coronet of copper, or some other 
shining metal, which at first our adventurers 
imagined to be gold, but were mistaken. His 
hair was cut short, but his wife's was long. 



82 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

The rest of his habit was like his wife's. The 
other women of the better sort, and the Prince's 
children, had several pendants of shining cop- 
per in their ears. The complexion of the peo- 
ple in general being tawny, and their hair 
black. The Prince's wife was usually attended 
by forty or fifty women to the sea-side; but 
when she came on board (as she did often) she 
left them on shore, and brought only two or 
three with her. 

The King's brother, they observed, was very 
just to his engagements ; for they frequently 
delivered him merchandise upon his word, and 
he ever came within the day and delivered 
what he had promised for them. He sent them 
also every day, as a present, a brace of bucks, 
with hares, rabbits, and fish, the best in the 
world ; together with several sorts of fruits, 
such as melons, walnuts, cucumbers, gourds, 
peas, and several kinds of roots, as also maize, 
or Indian corn. 

Afterwards seven or eight of the English 
officers went in their boat up the river Occam, 
twenty miles to the northward, and came to an 
island called Roanoke, where they were hospi- 
tably entertained by Granganimo's wife in his 
absence. She pressed them to stay on shore 
all night, and when they refused she was much 
concerned they should be apprehensive of any 
danger, and sent the provision on board their 
boat which she had provided for their supper, 
with mats for them to lie upon : and the cap- 
tain who wrote the relation, it seems, was of 



VOYAGE OF AMIDAS AND BARLOW. 33 

opinion they might safely have continued on 
shore; for a more kind and loving people he 
thought there could not be in the world, as he 
expressed himself. 

These Indians having never seen any Euro- 
peans before, were mightily taken with the 
whiteness of their skin, and took it as a great 
favour if any Englishman would permit any 
of them to touch his breast. They were 
amazed also at the magnitude and structure 
of their ships, and at the firing of a musket 
they trembled, having never seen any fire-arms 
before. 

The English continued to trade with the 
Indians till they had disposed of all the goods 
they had brought, and loaded their ships with 
skins, sassafras and cedar. They procured 
also some pearls from them, and a little tobac- 
co, which they found the Indians very fond of. 
After which they parted with this people in a 
very friendly manner, and returned home to 
England, taking with them Manteo and Wan- 
chese, two Indians, who appeared desirous to 
embark for England with tliem ; and having 
made a very profitable voyage, they gave Mr. 
Raleigh and the rest of their employers such a 
glorious account of the country, as made them 
impatient till they had provided ships for an- 
other voyage. The tobacco the captains Ami- 
das and Barlow brought home with them in 
this voyage was the first that had been seen in 
England, and was soon cried up as a most 
valuable plant, and a sovereign remedy for 
almost every malady. 



34 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 



VOYAGE OF GILBERT AND GOSNOLD. 

In the year 1602, on the 26th of March, Cap- 
tain Gilbert also set sail from Plymouth, Eng- 
land, with thirty-two mariners and landsmen ; 
the landsmen being commanded by Captain 
Gosnold, and designed for a colony. They ar- 
rived in New England, being in 42 degrees 
north latitude, on the 14th of May following; 
where there came on board them several of the 
natives in an European boat, some of whom 
also being clothed like Europeans, the boat and 
clothes having been given them by some fisher- 
men who frequented Newfoundland ; but most 
of them had mantles of deer-skins. They after- 
wards sailed to the southward, and came to a 
promontory called Cape Cod, from the shoals 
of Cod-fish they met with there, and that name 
it retains to this day. Here Captain Gosnold 
went on shore, and found peas, strawberries, 
and other fruits growing, and saw a great deal 
of good timber. 

They sailed from this point to the southward, 
and arrived at another promontory, which they 
called Gilbert's Point, the name of the captain 
of the ship, the shores appearing full of people. 
Some of them came on board, and though they 
were peaceable enough, they were observed to 
be thievish. The English afterwards bending 
their course to the south-west, they came to an 
uninhabited island in 41 degrees, to which they 



VOYAGE OF GILBERT AND GOSNOLD. 35 

gave the name of Martha's Vineyard ; and to 
another island, a little further to the southward, 
they gave the name of Elizabeth Island ; and 
these islands are still called by those names. 

Upon Elizabeth Island, lying about four miles 
from the continent. Captain Gosnold proposed 
to settle with his little colony, and to that end 
went on shore there on the 28th of May. He 
found the island covered with timber and un- 
derwood, among which were oak, ash, beech, 
walnut, hazel, cedars, cypress, and sassafras. 
And as to fruits, here were cherries, vines, 
gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries, ground- 
nuts, and peas; and also a variety of roots and 
salad-herbs. Here, in the middle of a fresh- 
water lake, which surrounded a little rocky 
island, containing an acre of ground, they be- 
gan to erect a house and fort capable of receiv- 
ing twenty men. 

While this was doing, Captain Gosnold sail- 
ed over to the continent, where he found a great 
many people, and was treated very courteously 
by them, every one making a present of what 
he had about him, such as skins, furs, tobacco, 
chains and necklaces of copper, shells, and the 
like, for which the English gave them some toys, 
and returned to their fort. 

Two or three days afterwards, one of the In- 
dian chiefs, with fifty stout men, armed with 
bows and arrows, came over from the continent 
to the island in their country boats, and there 
being then but eight Englishmen on shore, they 
stood upon their guard until the natives gave 



36 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

them to understand they came in a friendly 
manner to visit them. Whereupon they were 
invited to eat and drink, and sat down to din- 
ner with the Englisii on their heels, expressing 
a great deal of good humour. 

The Indians made them another visit two or 
three days after, when they behaved themselves 
very peaceably also ; but one of the natives 
having stolen a shield, was made to return it, 
and they seemed apprehensive the English 
would revenge it ; but finding them still easy 
and sociable, they were merry together, and 
parted again in a friendiV manner. But as two 
of the English were straggling by the sea-side 
two days after, to get crabs, four Indians at- 
tacked them, and wounded one of the English 
with an arrow ; whereupon the other English- 
man disarmed the aggressor, and the rest ran 
away. 

This seems to have been the only quarrel 
there was between the English and the Indians 
in this voyage : however, the colony which was 
designed to be left there, who were twenty in 
number, being apprehensive it would be diffi- 
cult for them to subsist till supplies and rein- 
forcements came from England, if the natives 
should prove their enemies, especially as their 
provisions, upon examination, appeared much 
shorter than was expected ; it was resolved to 
abandon their little fort in the island, and re- 
turn (all of them) to England. Having, there- 
fore, taken on board some cedar and sassafras. 



SETTLEMENT OF ST. MARy's. 37 

beaver-skins, deer-skins, black fox-skins, and 
other peltry they had received of the natives 
for the goods they carried thither, they set sail 
from the island of Elizabeth on the 18th of June, 
arriving at Exmouth in Devon, on the 23d of 
July following, without having lost one man. 



SETTLEMENT OF ST. MARY'S. 

The Lord Baltimore having obtained a grant 
of Maryland, sent over his brother, the honour- 
able Leonard Calvert, Esq., with several Ro- 
man Catholic gentlemen and other adventurers, 
to the number of two hundred, to take posses- 
sion of the country ; who setting sail from Eng- 
land on the 22d of November, 1633, arrived at 
Point Comfort, in the Bay of Chesapeake, on 
the 24th of February following ; where being 
kindly treated, received, and supplied with pro- 
visions by the English of Virginia, they con- 
tinued the voyage northward to the river Poto- 
mac, appointed to be the boundary between 
Virginia and Maryland, on the west side of the 
bay. 

The adventurers sailed up this river, and 
landing in several places on the northern shore, 
acquainted the natives they were come to set- 
tle among them and trade with them ; but the 
natives seemed rather to desire their absence 
4 



38 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

than their company. However, there were no 
acts of hostility committed on either side, and 
the English returning down the river Potomac 
again, made choice of a place near the mouth 
of a river (which falls into it, and by them 
called St. George's River) to plant the first 
colony. 

They advanced afterwards to an Indian town, 
called Yoamaco, then the capital of the coun- 
try, and at a conference with the Weroance or 
sovereign of the place, to whom they made con- 
siderable presents, the Weroance consented that 
the English should dwell in one part of the 
town, reserving the other for his own people 
till the harvest was over ; and then agreed to 
quit the whole entirely to the English, and re- 
tire further into the country, which they did 
accordingly ; and the following March Mr. Cal- 
vert and the planters were left in the quiet pos- 
session of the town, to which they gave the 
name of St. Mary's ; and it was agreed on both 
sides, that if any wrong was done by either 
party, the nation offending should make full sat- 
isfaction for the injury. 

The reason the Yoamaco Indians were so 
ready to enter into a treaty with the English, 
and yield them part of their country, w^as in 
hopes of obtaining their protection and assist- 
ance against the Susquehanna Indians, their 
northern neighbours, with whom they were 
then at war, and indeed the Yoamaco Indians 
were upon the point of abandoning their coun- 



SETTLEMENT OF ST. MARY's. 39 

try to avoid the fury of the Susquehanna na- 
tion before the English arrived ; from whence 
it appears, that the adventurers sent over by 
the Lord Baltimore cannot be charged with any 
injustice in settling themselves in this part of 
America, being invited to it by the original in- 
habitants. 

The English being thus settled at St. Mary's, 
applied themselves with great diligence to cul- 
tivating the ground, and raised large quantities 
of Indian corn, while the natives went every 
day into the woods to hunt for game, bringing 
home venison and turkeys to the English colony 
in abundance, for which they received knives, 
tools, and toys in return. And thus both na- 
tions lived in the greatest friendship, doing good 
to each other, till some of the English in Vir- 
ginia, envious of the happiness of this thriving 
colony, suggested to the Indians that these stran- 
gers were not really English, as they pretended, 
but Spaniards ; and would infallibly enslave 
them, as they had done many of their country- 
men : and the Indians were so credulous as to 
believe it, and appeared jealous of Mr. Calvert, 
making preparations as if they intended to fall 
upon the strangers ; which the English per- 
ceiving, stood upon their guard, and erected a 
fort for their security, on which they planted 
several pieces of ordnance, at the firing where- 
of the Yoamacos were so terrified that they 
abandoned their country without any other 
compulsion, and left the English in possession 
of it ; who, receiving supplies and reinforce- 



40 



BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 



ments continually from England, and having 
no other enemy to contend with than agues and 
fevers (which swept off some of them before 
they found out a proper regimen for the climate) 
they soon became a flourishing people, many 
Roman Catholic families of quality and fortune 
transporting themselves hither to avoid the pe- 
nal lav.'s made against them in England; and 
Maryland has been a place of refuge for those 
of that persuasion from that day to this. 




LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS. 



41 




LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS. 

When the light of the Reformation had 
dawned upon Europe, the doctrines and prac- 
tices of the Romish church filled the minds of 
those who opposed them with horror and irre- 
concilable aversion. The spirit which prevailed 
at that time was by no means satisfied either 
with the partial changes which took place in 
the reigns of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, or 
the imperious manner in which these sovereigns 
dictated a creed to their people : and the less 
so, as the opinions of the royal theologians 



42 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 

themselves, especially those of the former, had 
undergone considerable alterations. Elizabeth, 
determined that all her subjects should conform 
to the belief which she had chosen for them* 
established a High Commission for ecclesiastical 
affairs ; with powers, not inferior, or less hostile 
to the rights of conscience, than those of the 
Inquisition in Spain. Some attempts were 
made in the house of commons to check these 
arbitrary and odious proceedings; but Elizabeth 
interfered with her prerogative, and the guar- 
dians of the people were silent. They even 
consented to an act, by which those who should 
be absent from church for a month were sub- 
jected to a fine and imprisonment, and, if they 
persisted in their obstinacy, to death, without 
benefit of clergy. In consequence of this ini- 
quitous statute, and the distresses in which the 
Puritans were involved, a body of them called 
Brownists, from the name of their founder, left 
England, and settled at Leyden, in Holland, 
under the care of Mr. John Robinson, their 
pastor. But this situation at length proving 
disagreeable to them, and their children inter- 
marrying with the Dutch, they were apprehen- 
sive lest their church, which they regarded as 
a model of untarnished purity, should gradually 
decay; and having obtained a promise from 
James I. that they should not be molested in 
the exercise of their religion, and a patent from 
the South Virginia company, they chartered 
two small vessels, in one of which they sailed 
from Delfthaven, July 22d, 1620, and joined 



LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS. 43 

the other at Southampton. They were obliged 
afterwards to leave one of their vessels behind, 
on account of its leaky condition, and finally 
sailed from Plymouth in the May Flower, the 
captain of which having been bribed by the 
Dutch, who had a settlement at New York, to 
take them beyond their limits, they made the 
land as far north as Cape Cod, on the 9th of 
November. 

Finding that they were not within the juris- 
diction of South Virginia, and that they had no 
right to the soil or powers of government, they 
entered into a voluntary compact, conceived in 
the following words : " We, &c. do, by these 
presents, solemnly and mutually, in the pre- 
sence of God and one another, covenant and 
combine ourselves together, into a civil body 
politic, for our better ordering and preservation, 
and furtherance of the ends aforesaid ; and, by 
virtue hereof, to enact, constitute and frame 
such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, con- 
stitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall 
be thouorht most meet and convenient for the 
general good of the colony, unto which we pro- 
mise all due submission and obedience." 

This, the earliest American constitution, is 
dated November 11th, 1620, and signed by 
forty-one persons. The w^hole company, in- 
cluding women and children, amounted to one 
hundred and one. After thus settling a social 
contract, they proceeded to explore the coast, 
and on the 20th of December, having found a 
port and harbour suited to their purpose, they 



44 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

landed on the rock of Plymouth, a spot which, 
as the asylum of religious liberty, is still re- 
verenced by the sons of the Pilgrims, who 
annually celebrate the anniversary of their 
landing. 

The inclemency of the season, their previous 
sufferings at sea, and the hardships and priva- 
tions to which they were still exposed, thinned 
their ranks, till, at the end of four months from 
their landing, nearly one half their number had 
perished. At times only six or seven were fit 
for duty. Before leaving England the Pilgrims 
had formed a sort of partnership with certain 
London merchants, by which they were bound 
to carry on all their commerce in common for 
seven years. This proved a serious bar to the 
advancement of the colony. At the end of the 
term the colonists bought the shares of their 
partners, and divided their joint property 
among themselves. The government was ad- 
ministered by a governor and seven assistants, 
chosen annually by the people. 




TREATY WITH MASSASOIT. 45 



THE TREATY WITH MASSASOIT. 

About the middle of March, 1621, Samoset, 
one of the Indian sagamores, or captains, came 
into Plymouth in a friendly manner, and gave 
the people to understand they were welcome 
into the country, and that his people would be 
glad to traffic with them. And coming again 
the next day with several other Indians, they 
informed the English that their great Sachem, 
or king, whom they called Massasoit, had his 
residence but two or three days' march to the 
northward, and intended them a visit; and 
accordingly Massasoit arrived on the 22d of 
March, with a retinue of about sixty people, 
and being received by Captain Standish at the 
head of a file of musketeers, was conducted to 
a kind of throne they had prepared for his In- 
dian majesty in one of their houses. 

They relate that this monarch was of a large 
stature, middle aged, of a grave countenance, 
and sparing in his speech ; that his face was 
painted red, and both head and face smeared 
over with oil ; that he had a mantle of deer- 
skin, and his breeches and stockings, which were 
all of a piece, were of the same materials ; that 
his knife or tomahawk hung upon his breast on 
a string, his tobacco-pouch behind him, and his 
arms were clothed with wild-cat skins ; and in 
the same garb were his principal attendants. 



46 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

They did not observe any marks of distinction 
between this prince and his subjects, unless it 
were a chain of fish-bones which Massasoit 
wore about his neck. 

Soon after the prince was seated, Carver, the 
governor, came in with a guard of musketeers, 
a drum and trumpet marching before him: 
whereupon Massasoit rose up and kissed him; 
after which they both sat down, and an enter- 
tainment was provided for the Indians, of which 
no part appeared more acceptable to them than 
the brandy, the sachem himself drinking very 
plentifully of it. In Massasoit's retinue was 
the above-mentioned Squanto, w^ho had been 
carried to Europe by Hunt and brought to New 
England again, as related above. This Indian 
it seems had a very great affection for the Eng- 
lish, among whom he lived several years ; and 
it was to his favourable representation of the 
colony that the sachem was induced to make 
them this friendly visit : and at this first meet- 
ing to enter into an alliance oflfensive and de- 
fensive with the English, and even to acknow- 
ledge King James for his sovereign, and pro- 
mise to hold his dominions of him ; and as an 
evidence of his sincerity, Massasoit granted 
and transferred part of his country to the plant- 
ers and their heirs for ever. This alliance be- 
ing founded upon the mutual interests of the 
contracting parties was maintained inviolably 
many years. The sachem, who had been in- 
formed by Squanto how powerful a people the 



SIR WILLIAM PHIPS. 47 

English were, both by sea and land, promised 
himself their assistance against the Narragan- 
set Indians, his enemies ; and the English stood 
in no less need of his friendship and assistance 
to establish themselves in that country. 



SIR WILLIAM PHIPS. 

This hero was born of mean parents, in 
1650, at a small plantation on the banks of the 
river Kennebeck, the north-east frontier of New 
England. His father was a gunsmith, and left 
his mother a widow with a large family of small 
children. This William being one of the young- 
est, kept sheep in the wilderness till he was 
eighteen years of age, and was then bound ap- 
prentice to a ship-carpenter. When he had 
served his time he went to sea, and having been 
successful in some small adventures, at length 
discovered a rich Spanish wreck, near the port 
of La Plata, in Hispaniola, which gained him 
a great reputation in the English court, and in- 
troduced him into the acquaintance of some of 
the greatest men in the nation. 

The galleon, in which this treasure was lost, 
had been cast away upwards of fifty years, and 
how Captain Phips came to the knowledge of it 
does not appear to us ; but upon his applying 
to King Charles II. in the year 1683, and ac- 



48 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

quainting his majesty with the probabihty there 
was of recovering it, the king made him com- 
mander of the Algier Rose, a frigate of 18 guns, 
and 95 men, and sent him to Hispaniola in 
search of the prize. Here he was informed by 
an old Spaniard of the very place where it was 
lost, and began to fish for it, but his ship's crew 
looking upon it as a romantic undertaking, after 
some little trial despaired of success, and com- 
pelled him to return to England without effect- 
ing anything. And though the captain assured 
the ministry that the impatience of the seamen 
only prevented his success, the court refused to 
be concerned in the enterprise any further, and 
it was dropped for some time. 

However, the captain continuing his applica- 
tion to some great men, the Duke of Albemarle, 
and several other persons of distinction, fitted 
him out again in the year 1686; and arriving 
at the port De la Plata with a ship and tender, 
the captain went up into the woods, and built 
a stout canoe out of a cotton tree, large enough 
to carry eight or ten oars. This canoe and ten- 
der, with some choice men and skilful divers, 
the captain sent out in search of the wreck, 
whilst himself lay at anchor in the port. The 
canoe kept busking up and down upon the shal- 
lows, and could discover nothing but a reef of 
rising shoals, called the boilers, within two or 
three feet of the surface of the water. 

The sea was calm, every eye was employed 
in looking down into it, and the divers went 
down in several places without making any dis- 



SIR WILLIAM PHIP9. 4d 

covery, till at last, as they were turning back, 
weary and dejected, one of the sailors looking 
over the side of the canoe into the sea, spied a 
feather under water, growing, as he imagined, 
out of the side of a rock ; one of the divers 
was immediately ordered down to fetch it up, 
and look out if there was anything of value 
about it. 

He quickly brought up the feather, and told 
them that he had discovered several great guns ; 
whereupon he was ordered down again, and 
then brought up a pig of silver of two or three 
hundred pounds value, the sight of which filled 
them with transports, and convinced them suf- 
ficiently, that they had found the treasure they 
had been so long looking for. When they had 
buoyed the place, they made haste to the port, 
and told the captain the joyful news, who could 
hardly believe them, till they showed him the 
silver, and then with hands lifted up to heaven, 
he cried out, Thanks be to God we are all made! 

All hands were immediately ordered on board, 
and sailing to the place, the divers happened to 
fall first into the room where the bullion had 
been stored, and in a few days brought up 32 
tons of silver, without the loss of any man's life. 
When they had cleared the store-room they 
searched the hold, and amongst the ballast of 
the ship found a great many bags of pieces of 
eight. It is observable, that these bags having 
lain so long under water amongst ballast, were 
crusted over with a hard substance like lime- 
stone, to the thickness of several inches, which 
5 



60 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

being broken with irons contrived for that pur- 
pose, the rusty pieces of eight tumbled out in 
prodigious quantities. Besides these things they 
found vast treasures of gold, pearls, jewels, and 
everything that a Spanish galleon used to be 
laden with. 

There was one Adderley, of Providence, who 
had been with Captain Phips in his former voy- 
age to this place, and promised to assist him 
again if ever he should make a second adven- 
ture, who met him with a small vessel at port 
De la Plata, and with the few hands he had on 
board took up six tons of silver for themselves. 
They both staid till their provision was spent, 
and then the captain obliging Adderley and his 
men not to discover the place of the wreck, nor 
come to it himself till the next year, they weigh- 
ed anchor and returned. The reason of this 
obligation was, because the last day of their 
fishing the divers brought up several sows of 
silver, which made the captain imagine that 
there was a great deal of treasure yet behind, 
though it afterwards appeared that they had in 
a manner quite cleared the ship of her bullion 
before they left her. 

The captain steered directly away for Eng- 
land without calling at any port by the way, 
and arrived the latter end of the year, with 
about three hundred thousand pounds sterling, 
sixteen thousand of which, after all charges 
paid, and gratuities to the sailors, came to his 
own share : besides which, the Duke of Albe- 



FIRST ENGLISH CONQUEST OF CANADA. 51 

marie made his wife a present of a golden cup 
of a thousand pounds value. 

Some of King James's courtiers would have 
persuaded him to have seized the ship and its 
cargo, under pretence that the captain had not 
rightly informed him of the nature of his pro- 
ject when he was graciously pleased to grant 
him his patent ; but the king replied, that Phips 
was an honest man, and that it was his coun- 
cil's fault that he had not employed him him- 
self, and therefore he would give him no dis- 
turbance in what he had got ; but as a mark 
of his royal favour conferred upon him the ho- 
nour of knighthood. 



FIRST ENGLISH CONQUEST OF CANADA. 

The British dominion in America underwent, 
in the beginning of the seventeenth century, 
some vicissitudes which in after years affected 
materially the prosperity both of New England 
and of the other colonial establishments in the 
same quarter of the world. The war which 
the king so wantonly declared against France 
in 1627, and which produced only disgrace and 
disaster to the British arms in Europe, was 
attended with events of a very different com- 
plexion in America. Sir David Kirk having 
obtained a commission to attack the American 
dominions of France, invaded Canada in the 



52 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

summer of 1628; and so successful was the 
expedition, that in July, 1629, Quebec was 
reduced to surrender to the arms of England. 
Thus was the capital of New France subdued 
by the English, about one hundred and thirty 
years before they achieved its final conquest by 
the sword of Wolfe. This signal event was 
unknown in Europe when peace was re-estab- 
lished between France and England ; and 
Charles, by the subsequent treaty of St. Ger- 
main, not only restored this valuable acquisi- 
tion to France, but expressed the cession he 
made in terms of such extensive application, as 
undeniably inferred a recognition of the French, 
and a surrender of the British claims to the 
province of Nova Scotia. This arrangement 
manifestly threatened no small prejudice to the 
settlements of the English ; and it was soon 
found that what it threatened, it did not fail 
to produce. 




SETTLEMENT OF CONNECTICUT. 53 




SETTLEMENT OF CONNECTICUT. 

The increasing numbers of the colonists, 
causing the inhabitants of some of the towns 
to feel themselves straitened for room, sug- 
gested the formation of additional establish- 
ments. A project of founding a new settlement 
on the banks of the river Connecticut was now 
embraced by Mr. Hooker, one of the ministers 
of Boston, and a hundred of the members of 
his congregation. After enduring extreme 
hardship, and encountering the usual difficulties 
that attended the foundation of a society in this 
quarter of America, with the usual display of 
puritan fortitude and resolution, they at length 
succeeded in establishing a plantation, which 



54 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

gradually enlarged into the flourishing state of 
Connecticut. Some Dutch settlers from New 
York, who had previously occupied a post in 
the country, were compelled to surrender it to 
them ; and they soon after obtained from Lord 
Brooke and Lord Say and Seal, an assignation 
to a district which these noblemen had acquired 
in this region, with the intention of flying from 
the royal tyranny to America. They had at 
first carried with them a commission from the 
government of Massachusetts Bay, for the ad- 
ministration of justice in their new settlement ; 
but, afterwards reflecting that their territory 
was beyond the jurisdiction of the authorities 
from whom this commission was derived, they 
combined themselves by a voluntary association 
into a body politic, constructed on the same 
model with the state from which they had 
separated. They continued in this condition 
till the Restoration, when they obtained a char- 
ter for themselves from King Charles IL That 
this secession from the colony of Massachusetts 
Bay was occasioned by lack of room in a 
province as yet so imperfectly peopled, has 
appeared so improbable to some writers, that 
they have thought it necessary to assign another 
cause, and have found none so satisfactory as 
the jealousy which they conclude Mr. Hooker 
must inevitably have entertained towards Mr. 
Cotton, whose influence had become so great in 
Massachusetts that even a formidable political 
dissension was quelled by one of his pacific dis- 
courses. But envy was not a passion that 



SETTLEMENT OF CONNECTICUT. 55 

could dwell in the humble and holy breast of 
Hooker, or be generated by such influence as 
the character of Cotton was formed to exert. 
The sense of a redundant population was the 
more readily experienced at first from the un- 
willingness of the settlers to remove far into the 
interior of the country and deprive themselves 
of an easy communication with the coast. 
Another reason, indeed, appears to have 
enforced the formation of this new settlement ; 
but it was a reason that argued not dissension, 
but community of feeling and design between 
the settlers who remained in Massachusetts and 
those who removed to Connecticut. By the 
establishment of this advanced station, a bar- 
rier, it was hoped, would be erected against the 
troublesome incursions of the Pequod Indians. 
Nor is it utterly improbable that some of the 
seceders to this new settlement were actuated 
by a restless spirit which had hoped too much 
from external change, and which vainly urged 
a farther pursuit of that spring of contentment 
which must rise up in the mind of him who 
would enjoy it. 

In the immediate neighbourhood of this new 
settlement, another plantation was formed 
about two years after, by a numerous body of 
emigrants who arrived from England, under 
the guidance of Theophilus Eaton, a gentleman 
of fortune, and John Davenport, an eminent 
puritan minister. Massachusetts Bay appear- 
ing to them overstocked, and being informed of 
a large and commodious bay to the south-west 



56 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

of Connecticut river, they purchased from the 
natives all the land that lies betw^een that 
stream and Hudson's river, which divides the 
southern parts of New England from New 
York. Seating themselves in this bay, they 
spread along the coast, where they built first 
the town of New Haven, which has given its 
name to the settlement, and then the towns of 
Guilford, Milford, Stamford, and Brainford. 
After some time they crossed the bay, and 
planted several settlements in Long Island ; in 
all places where they came, erecting churches 
on the model of the independents. When we 
perceive the injustice and cruelty exercised by 
the government of Britain, thus contributing to 
cover the earth with cities, and to plant religion 
and liberty in the savage deserts of America, 
we recognise the overruling providence of that 
great Being who can render even the fierceness 
of men conducive to his praise. Having no 
patent, nor any other title to their lands than the 
vendition of the natives, and not being included 
within the boundaries of any colonial jurisdic- 
tion, these settlers entered into a voluntary 
association of the same nature and for the same 
ends with that which the settlers in Connecti- 
cut had formed for themselves : and in this con- 
dition they remained till the Restoration, when 
New Haven and Connecticut were united 
together by a charter of King Charles H. 



BENEVOLENCE OF ELLIOT AND MAYHEW. 57 



BENEVOLENT EXERTIONS OF ELLIOT AND 
MAYHEW. 

The circumstances that had promoted th» 
emigrations to New England, had operated 
with particular force on the ministers of the 
puritans ; and so many of them had accom- 
panied the other settlers, that among a people 
who derived less enjoyment from the exercises 
of piety, the numbers of the clergy would have 
been thought exceedingly burdensome, and very 
much disproportioned to the wants of the laity. 
This circumstance was highly favourable to the 
promotion of religious habits among the colo- 
nists, as well as to the extension of their settle- 
ments, in the plantation of which the co-opera- 
tion of a minister was considered indispensa- 
ble. It contributed also to suggest and facili- 
tate missionary labour among the heathens, to 
whom the colonists had associated themselves 
by superadding the ties of a common country 
to those of a common nature. While the peo- 
ple at large were daily extending their industry, 
and overcoming by cultivation the rudeness of 
desert nature, the clergy eagerly looked around 
for some addition to their peculiar sphere of 
usefulness, and at a very early period enter- 
tained designs of redeeming to the dominion of 
piety and civility, the neglected wastes of hu- 
man character that lay stretched in savage 
ignorance and idolatry around them. John 



58 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

Elliot, one of the ministers of Roxbury, a man 
whose large soul glowed with the intensest 
flame of zeal and charity, was strongly pene- 
trated with a sense of this duty, and for some 
time had been diligently labouring to overcome 
the preliminary difficulty by which its perform- 
ance was obstructed. He had now at length 
attained such acquaintance with the Indian 
language as enabled him not only himself to 
speak it with fluency, but to facilitate the 
acquisition of it to others, by the construction 
and publication of a system of Indian gram- 
mar. Having completed his preparatory inqui- 
ries, he began, in the close of this year, a scene 
of labour which has been traced with great 
interest and accuracy by the ecclesiastical his- 
torians of England, and still more minutely, I 
doubt not, in that eternal record where alone 
the actions of men attain their just, their final, 
and everlasting proportions. It is a remarka- 
ble feature in his long and arduous career, that 
the energy by which he was actuated never 
sustained the slightest abatement, but, on the 
contrary, evinced a steady and vigorous 
increase. He appears never to have doubted 
its continuance ; but, constantly referring it to 
God, he felt assured of its derivation from a 
source incapable of being wasted by the most 
liberal communication. He delighted to main- 
tain this communication by incessant prayer, 
and before his missionary labours commenced, 
he had been known in the colony by the name 
of "praying Elliot" — a noble designation, if 



BENEVOLENCE OF ELLIOT AND MAYHEW. 50 

the noblest employment of a rational creature 
be the cultivation of access to the Author of 
his being. Rarely, very rarely, I believe, has 
human nature been so completely embued, re- 
fined, and elevated by religion. Everything he 
saw or knew occurred to him in a religious 
aspect : every faculty, and every acquisition 
that he derived from the employment of his fa- 
culties, was received by him as a ray let into his 
soul from that Eternity for which he continually 
panted. As he was one of the holiest, so was 
he also one of the happiest of men ; and his life 
for many years was a continual outpouring of 
his whole being in devotion to God and charity 
to mankind. 

The kindness of Mr. Elliot's manner soon 
gained him a favourable hearing from many of 
the Indians ; and both parties being sensible of 
the expediency of altering the civil and domestic 
habits that counteracted the impressions which 
he attempted to produce, he obtained from the 
general court an allotment of land in the neigh- 
bourhood of the settlement of Concord, in Mas- 
sachusetts, upon which a number of Indian 
families proceeded, by his directions, to build 
fixed habitations, and where they eagerly re- 
ceived his instructions both spiritual and secu- 
lar. It was not long before a violent opposition 
to these innovations was excited by the powaws, 
or Indian priests, who threatened death and 
other inflictions of the vengeance of their idols 
on all who should embrace Christianity. The 
menaces and artifices of these persons caused 



60 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

several of the seeming converts to draw back, 
but induced others to separate themselves more 
entirely from the society and converse of their 
countrymen, and seek the benefit and protec- 
tion of a closer association with that superior 
race of men who showed themselves so gene- 
rously willing to diffuse and communicate all 
the means and benefits of their superiority. A 
considerable body of Indians resorted to the 
land allotted them by the colonial government, 
and exchanged their wild and barbarous habits 
for the modes of civilized living and industry. 
Mr. Elliot was continually among them, in- 
structing, animating, and directing them. They 
felt his superior wisdom, and saw him continu- 
ally happy ; and there was nothing in his cir- 
cumstances or appearance that indicated sources 
of enjoyment from which they were debarred ; 
on the contrary, it was obvious that of every 
article of selfish comfort he was willing to divest 
himself in order to communicate to them what 
he esteemed the only true riches of an immortal 
being. He who gave him this spirit, gave him 
favour in the eyes of the people among whom 
he ministered ; and their affection for him 
reminds us of those primitive ages when the 
converts were willing, as it were, to pluck out 
their eyes if they could have given them to 
their pastor. The women in the new settlement 
learned to spin, the men to dig and till the 
ground, and the children were instructed in the 
English language, and taught to read and write. 
As the numbers of domesticated Indians 



BENEVOLENCE OF ELLIOT AND MAYHEW. 61 

increased they built a town by the side of 
Charles river, which they called Natick; and 
they desired Mr. Elliot to frame a system of 
internal government for them. He directed 
their attention to the counsel that Jethro gave 
to Moses ; and, in conformity with it, they 
elected for themselves rulers of hundreds, of 
fifties, and of tens. The colonial government 
also appointed a court which, without assuming 
jurisdiction over them, offered the assistance 
of its judicial wisdom to all who should be wil- 
ling to refer to it the determination of their 
more difficult or important subjects of contro- 
versy. In endeavouring to extend their mis- 
sionary influence among the surrounding tribes, 
Mr. Elliot and his associates encountered a 
variety of success corresponding to the visible 
varieties of human character and the invisible 
predeterminations of the Divine will. Many 
expressed the utmost abhorrence and contempt 
of Christianity : some made a hollow profession 
of willingness to hear, and even of conviction, 
with the view, as it afterwards appeared, of 
obtaining the tools and other articles of value 
that were furnished to those who proposed to 
embrace the modes of civilized living. In spite 
of every discouragement the missionaries per- 
sisted ; and the difficulties that at first mocked 
their efforts seeming at length to vanish under 
an invisible touch, their labours were blessed 
with astonishing success. The character and 
habits of the lay colonists tended to promote 
the efficacy of these pious labours, in a manner 
6 



62 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

which will be forcibly appreciated by all who 
have examined the history and progress of mis- 
sions. Simple in their manners, devout, moral, 
and industrious in their lives, they enforced the 
lessons of the missionaries by demonstrating 
their practicability and beneficial efl^ects, and 
presented a model which, in point of refinement, 
was not too elevated for Indian imitation. 

While Mr. Elliot and an increasing body of 
associates were thus employed in the province 
of Massachusetts, Thomas May hew, a man 
who combined in a wonderful degree an aflfec- 
tionate mildness that nothing could disturb, 
with an ardour and activity that nothing could 
overcome, together with a few coadjutors, not 
less diligently and successfully prosecuted the 
same design in Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket 
and Elizabeth Isles, and within the territory 
comprehended in the Plymouth patent. Abasing 
themselves that they might elevate their species 
and promote the Divine glory, they wrought 
with their own hands among those Indians 
whom they persuaded to forsake savage habits; 
and zealously employing all the influence they 
acquired to the communication of moral and 
spiritual improvement, their labours were emi- 
nently blessed by the same Power which had 
given them the grace so fully to devote them- 
selves to his service. The character and man- 
ners of Mayhew appear to have been singularly 
calculated to excite the tenderness no less than 
the veneration of the objects of his benevolence, 
and to make them feel at once how amiable 



BENEVOLENCE OF ELLIOT AND MAYKEW. 63 

and how awful true goodness is. His address 
derived a captivating interest from that earnest 
concern, and high and holy value, which he 
manifestly entertained for every member of the 
family of mankind. Many years after his death 
the Indians could not hear his name mentioned 
without shedding tears and expressing trans- 
ports of grateful emotion. Both Elliot and 
Mayhew found great advantage in the practice 
of selectinor the most docile and ins^enious of 
their Indian pupils, and by especial attention 
to their instruction, qualifying them to act as 
schoolmasters among their brethren. To a zeal 
that seemed to increase by exercise, they added 
insurmountable patience and admirable pru- 
dence; and, steadily fixing their view on the 
glory of the Most High, and declaring that, 
whether outwardly successful or not in pro- 
moting it, they felt themselves blessed and 
hoppy in pursuing it, they found its influence 
sufficient to light them through every perplexity 
and peril, and finally conduct them to a degree 
of success and victory unparalleled, perhaps, 
since that era when the miraculous endowments 
of the apostolic ministry caused a nation to be 
born in a day. They were slow to push the 
Indians upon improved institutions ; they de- 
sired rather to lead them insensibly forward, 
more especially in the adoption of religious 
ordinances. Those practices, indeed, which 
they considered likely to commend themselves 
by their beneficial effects to the natural under- 
Standing of men, they were not restrained from 



64 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

recommending to their early adoption; and 
trial by jury very soon superseded the savage 
modes of determining right or ascertaining 
guilt, and contributing to improve and refine 
the sense of equity. In the dress and mode of 
cohabitation of the savages, they also intro- 
duced, at an early period, alterations calculated 
to form and develope a sense of modesty, in 
which the Indians were found to be grossly and 
universally defective. But all these practices 
which are, or ought to be, exclusively the fruits 
of renewed nature and Divine light, they 
desired to teach entirely by example, and by 
diligently radicating and cultivating in the 
minds of their flocks the principles out of which 
alone such practices can lastingly and benefi- 
cially grow. It was not till the year 1660 that 
the first Indian church was founded by Mr. 
Elliot and his fellow-labourers in Massachu- 
setts. There were at that time no fewer than 
ten settlements within the province, occupied 
by Indians comparatively civilized. 




ESCAPE or MR. DUSTAN. 



65 




ESCAPE OF MR. DUSTAN. 

In 1698, when Haverhill was attacked and 
fired by the Indians, a troo{3 of them approached 
the house of a Mr. Dustan, who at that time 
was abroad in the fields. He flew to the house, 
which contained his wife and eight children. 
He directed the children to escape as fast as 
possible, while he attempted to save his wife, 
who was sick in bed. Before this could be 
done, the savages were at hand. He flew to 
the door, mounted his horse, seized his gun and 
hastened away with his children. The Indians 
pursued and fired upon them ; but Dustan re- 
turned the fire, and keeping himself in the rear 
6* 



66 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

of his troop of little ones, held the savages at 
bay till he had retreated to a place of safety. 
Mrs. Dustan, with her infant, six days old, 
and their nurse, fell into the hands of the 
Indians. 

The child was soon dashed against a tree and 
killed. The Indians divided into several par- 
ties for subsistence, and Mrs. Dustan and her 
nurse, and a boy taken from Worcester, fell to 
the lot of a family of twelve, with whom they 
travelled through the wilderness to an island, 
at the mouth of Contoocook river, in the town 
of Bowcawen, N. H. where they encamped for 
the night. Just before daylight, finding the 
whole company in a profound sleep, she arose 
and armed herself and companions with the 
Indian tomahawks, which they wielded with 
such destructive effect, that ten of the twelve 
were instantly despatched ; one woman escaping 
whom they thought they had killed, and a 
favourite boy was designedly left. They took 
the scalps of the conquered enemy, and taking 
a canoe for their own use, and cutting holes in 
one or more that were left, to prevent pursuit, 
they descended the river, and arrived home in 
safety. She received a reward of fifty pounds 
from the treasury of the colony. The place 
whence they were taken, is about one mile 
north of the town ; it is still owned by her 
descendants, and part of the house is still 
standing. 



THE BELL OF ST. REGIS. 67 



THE BELL OF ST. REGIS. 

When Canada was in possession of the 
French, a Catholic priest, named Father Ni- 
cholas, having assembled a considerable number 
of the Indians whom he had converted, settled 
them in the village which is now called St. 
Regis, on the banks of the St. Lawrence. The 
situation is one of the most beautiful on that 
noble river, and the village at this day the most 
picturesque in the country. The houses, high 
roofed and of a French appearance, are scattered 
round the semicircle of a little bay, and on a 
projecting headland stands the church, with its 
steeple glittering with a vivacity inconceivable 
by those who have not seen the brilliancy of 
the tin roofs of Canada contrasted in the sun- 
shine with the dark woods. 

This little church is celebrated for the legend 
of its bell. 

When it was erected, and the steeple com- 
pleted, father Nicholas took occasion, in one of 
his sermons, to inform his simple flock that a 
bell was as necessary to a steeple as a priest is 
to a church, and exhorted them, therefore, to 
collect as many furs as would enable him to 
procure one from France. The Indians were 
not sloths in the performance of this pious 
duty. Two bales were speedily collected and 
shipped for Havre de Grace, and in due time 
the worthy ecclesiastic was informed that the 



68 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

bell was piirchased and put on board the Grand 
Monarque, bound for Quebec. 

It happened that this took place during one 
of those wars which the French and English 
are naturally in the habit of waging against 
one another, and the Gi^and Monarque, in con- 
sequence, never reached her destination. She 
was taken by a New-England privateer and 
carried into Salem, where the ship and cargo 
were condemned as prize, and sold for the cap- 
tors. The bell was bought for the town of 
Deerfield, on the Connecticut river, where a 
church had been recently built, to which that 
great preacher, the Rev. John Williams, was 
appointed. With much labour it was carried 
to the village, and duly elevated in the belfry. 

When father Nicholas heard of this misfor- 
tune, he called his flock together and told them 
of the purgatorial condition of the bell in the 
hands of the heretics, and what a laudable 
enterprise it would be to redeem it. 

This preaching was, within its sphere, as 
inspiring as that of the hermit Peter. The 
Indians lamented to one another the deplorable 
unbaptized state of the bell. Of the bell itself 
they had no very clear idea; but they knew 
that father Nicholas said mass and preached in 
the church, and they understood the bell was 
to perform some analogous service in the 
steeple. Their wonted activity in the chase 
was at an end ; they sat in groups on the mar- 
gin of the river, communing on the calamity 
which had befallen the bell ; and some of them 



THE BELL OP ST. REGIS. 69 

roamed alone, ruminating on the means of res- 
cuing it. The squaws, who had been informed 
that its voice would be heard farther than the 
roaring of the rapids, and that it was more 
musical than the call of the whip-poor-will in 
the evening, moved about in silence and dejec- 
tion. All were melancholy, and finely touched 
with a holy enthusiasm ; many fasted, and some 
voluntarily subjected themselves to severe pe- 
nances, to procure relief for the captive, or 
mitigation of its sufferings. 

x\t last the day of deliverance drew near. 

The Marquis de Vaudrieul, the governor of 
Canada, resolved to send an expedition against 
the British colonies of Massachusetts and New 
Hampshire : the command was given to Major 
Hertel de Rouville: and one of the priests 
belonging to the Jesuit's College at Quebec 
informed father Nicholas, by a pious voyageur, 
of the proposed incursion. The Indians were 
immediately assembled in the church ; the 
voyageur was elevated in the midst of the con- 
gregation, and father Nicholas, in a solemn 
speech, pointed him out to their veneration as 
a messenger of glad tidings. He then told 
them of the warlike preparations at Quebec, 
and urged them to join the expedition. At the 
conclusion, the w^hole audience rose, giving the 
war-whoop; then simultaneously retiring to 
their houses, they began to paint themselves 
with their most terrible colours for battle, and, 
as if animated by one will at their council fire, 
they resolved to join the expedition. 



70 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

It was in the depth of winter when they set 
out to unite theniselves with De R< uville's 
party at the fort of Chambly. Father Nicholas, 
with a tall staff, and a cross on the top of it, 
headed them ; and, as they marched off, their 
wives and children, in imitation of the hymns 
which animated the departures of the first 
crusaders under the command of Godfrey de 
Boulogne, chanted a sacred song which the 
holy father had especially taught them for the 
occasion. 

They arrived at Chambly, after a journey 
of incredible fatigue, as the French soldiers 
w^ere mounting their sleighs to proceed to Lake 
Champlain. The Indians followed in the track 
of the sleighs, with the perseverance peculiar 
to their character. Father Nicholas, to be the 
more able to do his duty when it might be 
required, rode on a sleigh with De Rouville. 

In this order and arra}^ the Indians, far 
behind, followed in silence, until the whole 
party had rendezvoused on the borders of I^ake 
Champlain, which, being frozen, and the snow 
but thinly upon it, was chosen for their route. 
Warmed in their imaginations w^ith the un- 
happy captivity of the bell, the Indians plodded 
solemnly their weary way ; no symptom of 
regret, of fatigue, or of apprehension, relaxed 
their steady countenances ; they saw with 
equal indifference the black and white inter- 
minable forest on the shore, on the one hand, 
and the dread and dreary desert of the snowy 
ice of the lake, on the other. 



THE BELL OF ST. REGIS. 71 

The French soldiers began to suffer extreme- 
ly from the toil of wading through the snow, 
and beheld with admiration and envy the fa- 
cility with which the Indians, in their snow 
shoes, moved over the surface. No contrast 
could be greater than the patience of father 
Nicholas's proselytes and the irritability of the 
Frenchmen. 

Vf hen they reached the spot on which the 
lively and pretty town of Burlington now 
stands, a general halt w^as ordered, that the 
necessary arrangements might be made to pene- 
trate the forest towards the settled parts of 
Massachusetts. In starting from this point, 
father Nicholas was left to bring up his divi- 
sion, and De Rouville led his own with a com- 
pass in his hand, taking the direction of Deer- 
field. Nothing that had been yet suffered was 
equal to the hardships endured in that march. 
Day after day the Frenchmen went forward 
with indefatigable bravery, — a heroic contrast 
to the panics of their countrymen in the Rus- 
sian snow-storms of latter times. But they 
were loquacious ; and the roughness of their 
course and the entangling molestation which 
they encountered from the underwood, pro- 
voked their maledictions and excited their 
gesticulations. The conduct of the Indians 
was far different: animated with holy zeal, 
their constitutional taciturnity had something 
dignified — even subhme, in its sternness. No 
murmur escaped them ; their knowledge of tra- 
velling the woods instructed them to avoid 



72 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

many of the annoyances which called forth the 
pestes and sacres of their not less brave, but 
more vociferous companions. 

Long before the party had reached their 
destination, father Nicholas was sick of his 
crusade ; the labour of threading the forest had 
lacerated his feet, and the recoiling boughs 
had, from time to time, by his own inadvertency 
in following too closely behind his companions, 
sorely blained, even to excoriation, his cheeks. 
Still he felt that he was engaged in a sanctified 
adventure ; he recalled to mind the martyrdoms 
of the saints and the persecutions of the fa- 
thers, and the glory that would redound to 
himself in all after ages, from the redemption 
of the bell. 

On the evening of the 29th of February, 
1704, the expedition arrived within two miles 
of Deerfield, without having been discovered. 
De Rouville ordered his men to halt, rest, and 
refresh themselves until midnight, at which 
hour he gave orders that the village should be 
attacked. 

The surface of the snow was frozen, and 
crackled beneath the tread. With great sa- 
gacity, to deceive the English garrison, De 
Rouville directed, that in advancing to the 
assault, his men should frequently pause, and 
then rush for a short time rapidly forward. 
By this ingenious precaution, the sentinels in 
the town were led to imagine that the sound 
came from the irregular rustle of the wind 
through the laden branches of the snowy 



THE BELL OF ST. REGIS. 73 

forest ; but an alarm was at last given, and a 
terrible conflict took place in the streets. The 
French fought with their accustomed spirit, 
and the Indians with their characteristic forti- 
tude. The garrison was dispersed, the town 
was taken, and the buildings set on fire. 

At daybreak all the Indians, although greatly- 
exhausted by the fatigue of the night, waited 
in a body, and requested the holy father to 
conduct them to the bell, that they might per- 
form their homages and testify their veneration 
for it. Father Nicholas was not a little dis- 
concerted at this solemn request, and de Rou- 
ville, with many of the Frenchmen, who were 
witnesses, laughed at it most unrighteously. 
But the father was not entirely discomfited. 
As the Indians had never heard a bell before, 
he obtained one of the soldiers from De Rou- 
ville, and despatched him to ring it. The 
sound, in the silence of the frosty dawn and 
the still woods, rose loud and deep ; it was, to 
the simple ears of the Indians, as the voice of 
an oracle ; they trembled, and were filled with 
wonder and awe. 

The bell was then taken from the belfry, and 
fastened to a beam with a cross-bar at the end, 
to enable it to be carried by four men. In this 
way the Indians proceeded with it homewards, 
exulting in the deliverance of the '' miraculous 
organ." But it was soon found too heavy for 
the uneven track they had to retrace, and, in: 
consequence, when they reached their starting 
point, on the shore of Lake Champlain, they 
7 



74 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 

buried it, with many benedictions from father 
Nicholas, until they could come with proper 
means to carry it away. 

As soon as the ice was broken up, father 
Nicholas assembled them again in the church, 
and, having procured a yoke of oxen, they pro- 
ceeded to bring in the bell. In the meantime 
all the squaws and papooses had been informed 
of its marvellous powers and capacities, and 
the arrival of it was looked to as one of the 
greatest events " in the womb of time." Nor 
did it prove far short of their anticipations. 
One evening, while they were talking and 
communing together, a mighty sound was- heard 
approaching in the woods ; it rose louder and 
louder ; they listened, they wondered, and 
began to shout and cry, " It is the bell." 

It was so. Presently the oxen, surrounded 
by the Indians, were seen advancing from the 
woods; the beam was laid across their shoul- 
ders, and, as the bell swung between them, it 
sounded wide and far. On the top of the 
beam a rude seat was erected, on which sat 
father Nicholas, the most triumphant of mortal 
men, adorned with a wreath round his temples; 
the oxen, too, were ornamented with garlands 
of flowers. In this triumphant array, in the 
calm of a beautiful evening, when the leaves 
were still and green, and while the roar of Le 
longue Saulte rapid, softened by distance, rose 
like the hum of a pagan multitude rejoicing in 
the restoration of an idol, they approached the 
village. 



JOHN WINTHROP. 75 

The bell, in due season, was elevated to its 
place in the steeple, and, at the wonted hours 
of matins and vespers, it still cheers with its 
clear and swelling voice the solemn woods and 
the majestic St. Lawrence. 



JOHN WINTHROP. 

The first John Winthrop came into this coun- 
try in the year 1630, only ten years after the 
landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. He was 
a man of talents, learning, and virtue, and was 
early promoted in the infant colony. In the 
year 1015, when he was deputy governor, he 
was cliarged before the General Court with 
having been guilty of an invasion upon the lib- 
erties of the people. Upon a hearing, notwith- 
standing a considerable degree of passion had 
been excited, he was honourably acquitted, and 
the persons who were at the bottom of the at- 
tack upon him, were afterwards severally fined 
and censured. Upon resuming his seat as gov- 
ernor, he addi-essed the court in the following 
speech, which we think would do no discredit 
to any magistrate, of any country, at any pe- 
riod :— - 

" I shall not now speak anything about the 
past proceedings of this court, or the persons 
therein concerned. Only I bless God that I see 
an issue of this troublesome affair. I am well 



76 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

satisfied that I was publicly accused, and that 
I am now publicly acquitted. But though I am 
justified before men, yet it may be that the 
Lord hath seen so much amiss in my adminis- 
tration, as calls me to be humbled; and indeed 
for me to have been thus charged by men, is a 
matter of humiliation, whereof I desire to make 
a right use before the Lord. If Miriam's fa- 
ther spit in her face, she is to be ashamed. — But 
give me leave before you go, to say something 
that may rectify the opinions of many people. 
The questions that have troubled the country 
have been about the authority of the magistra- 
cy, and the liberty of the people. It is you that 
have called us into this office; but being thus 
called, v.'e have our authority from God ; it is 
the ordinance of God, and it hath the image of 
God stamped on it; and the contempt of it has 
been vindicated by God with, terrible examples 
of his vengeance. I entreat you to consider, 
that w^hen you choose magistrates, you take 
them from among yourselves, men subject unto 
like passions with yourselves. If you see our 
infirmities, reflect on your own, and you will 
not be so severe censurers of our's. We count 
him a good servant who breaks not his cove- 
nants : the covenant between us and you, is the 
oath you have taken of us, w hich is to this pur- 
pose, that ive shall govern you, and judge your 
causes according to God's laws and our own, ac- 
cording to our best skill. As for our skill, you 
must run the hazard of it ; and if there be an 
error, not in the will, but only in the skill, it 



JOHN WINTHROP. 77 

becomes you to bear it. Nor would I have you 
to mistake in the point of your own liberty. 
There is a liberty of corrupt nature^ which is 
affected both by men and beasts to do what they 
list ; and this liberty is inconsistent with all au- 
thority, impatient of all restraints; by this lib- 
erty, sumus omnes deteriores : 'tis the grand ene- 
my of truth and peace, and all the ordinances 
of God are bent against it. But there is a 

CIVIL, A MORAL, A FEDERAL LIBERTY, 

which is the proper end and object of author- 
ity ; it is a liberty for that only which is just 
and good; for this liberty^ you are to stand 
with the hazard of your very lives ; and what- 
ever crosses it, is 7iot authority, but a distemper 
thereof This liberty is maintained in a way 
of subjection to authority ; and the authority 
set over you, will in all administrations for your 
good, be quietly submitted unto, by all but such 
as have a disposition to shake off the yoke, and 
lose their true liberty, by their murmuring at 
the honour and power of authority." 

" The spell," says Cotton Mather, " that was 
upon the eyes of the people, being thus remov- 
ed, their distorted and enraged notions of things 
all vanished ; and the people would not after- 
wards entrust the helm of the weather-beaten 
bark in any other hands but Mr. Winthrop's 
until he died." 



7* 



78 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 



GOFFE THE REGICIDE. 

In the course of Philip's war, which involved 
almost all the Indian tribes in New England, 
and among others those in the neighbourhood 
of Hadley, the inhabitants thought it proper to 
observe the first of September, 1675, as a day 
of fasting and prayer. While they were in the 
church, and employed in their worship, they . 
w^ere surprised by a band of savages. The peo- 
ple instantly betook themselves to their arms — 
which, according to the custom of the times, 
they had carried with them to the church — and 
rushing out of the house, attacked their invad- 
ers. The panic, under which they began the 
conflict, was, however, so great, and their num- 
ber was so disproportioned to that of their ene- 
mies, that they fought doubtfully at first, and 
in a short time began evidently to give way. 
At this moment an ancient man, with hoary 
locks, of a most venerable and dignified aspect, 
and in a dress widely differing from that of the 
inhabitants, appeared suddenly at their head, 
and with a firm voice and an example of un- 
daunted resolution, reanimated their spirits, led 
them again to the conflict, and totally routed 
the savages. When the battle was ended, the 
stranger disappeared ; and no person knew 
whence he had come, or whither he had gone. 
The relief was so timely, so sudden, so unex- 



JUDICIAL INTEGRITY. 79 

pected, and so providential ; the appearance and 
the retreat of him who furnished it were so un- 
accountable ; his person was so dignified and 
commanding, his resolution so superior, and his 
interference so decisive, that the inhabitants, 
without any uncommon exercise of credulity, 
readily believed him to be an angel, sent by 
Pleaven for their preservation. Nor was this 
opinion seriously controverted, until it was dis- 
covered, several years afterward, that Goffe 
and Whalley had been lodged in the house of 
Mr. Russell. Then it was known that their 
deliverer was Goffe ; Whalley having become 
superannuated some time before the event took 
place. 



JUDICIAL INTEGRITY. 

Judge Sewall, of Massachusetts, who died 
in 1760, went one day into a hatter's shop, in 
order to purchase a pair of second-hand brushes 
for cleaning his shoes. The master of the shop 
presented him with a couple. " What is your 
price?" said the judge. *' If they will answer 
your purpose," replied the other, " you may 
have them and welcome." The judge, upon 
hearing this, laid them down, and bowing, was 
leaving the shop ; upon which the hatter said 
to him, " Pray sir, your honour has forgotten 



80 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 

the principal object of your visit." " By no 
means," answered the judge ; " if you please to 
set a price I am ready to purchase : but ever 
since it has fallen to my lot to occupy a seat on 
the bench, I have studiously avoided receiving 
to the value of a single copper, lest at some 
future period of my life, it might have some 
kind of influence in determining my judgment. 



EARLY HEROISM OF WASHINGTON. 

Governor Dinwiddie having informed the 
assembly of Virginia, on the 1st of November, 
1753, that the French had erected a fort on the 
Ohio, where Pittsburg now stands, it was re- 
solved to send a message to M. St. Pierre, the 
commander, to claim that country as belonging 
to his Britannic Majesty, and to order him to 
withdraw. Mr. Washington, the future father 
of his country, a young gentleman just arrived 
at age, offered his services on this important 
and hazardous mission. The distance from Wil- 
liamsburg, the capital of Virginia, was upwards 
of 400 miles; more than one half of which was 
through a trackless and howling desert, inhab- 
ited by cruel and merciless savages ; and the 
season was uncommonly severe. Notwithstand- 
ing these discouraging circumstances, Mr. 
Washington, attended by one companion only, 



COLONEL M'lANE. 81 ^ 

set out upon this arduous and dangerous enter- 
prise ; travelled from Winchester on foot, car- 
rying his provisions on his back, executed his 
commission, and after incredible hardships, and 
many providential escapes, returned safe to 
Williamsburg, and gave an account of his 
negotiation to the assembly, the 14th day of 
February following. 



COLONEL M'LANE. 

This venerable and distinguished soldier of 
the revolution, after having^ reached the patri- 
archal age of eighty-three, closed his earthly 
pilgrimage at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1829. 

Colonel M'Lane was distinguished for daring 
personal courage, and for his unremitted activity 
as a partisan officer. He was long attached to 
Lee's famous legion of horse, which, throughout 
the w^ar, was the terror of the British. An 
instance of his personal prowess, related to us 
by himself, we may be permitted to give. 

While the British occupied Philadelphia, 
Colonel M'Lane was constantly scouring the 
adjacent country, particularly the upper part 
of Philadelphia, Bucks, and Montgomery coun- 
ties — seizing every opportunity to cut off the 
scouting parties of the enemy, to intercept their 
supplies of provisions, and to take advantage 
of every opening which offered for striking a 



82 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

sudden blow. In this capacity, he rendered 
many important services to the army, and 
caused great alarm to the British ; and though 
they frequently attempted to surprise and take 
him, yet such was his constant watchfulness, 
that none of their attempts succeeded. Having 
concerted with Captain Craig, the plan of an 
attack upon a small detachment of the enemy, 
they agreed to rendezvous at a house near 
Shoemakertown, eight miles from Philadelphia, 
on the Willow Grove turnpike. Col. M'Lane, 
having ordered his little band of troopers to 
follow at some distance, commanded two of 
them to precede the main body, but also to keep 
in his rear ; and if they discovered an enemy to 
ride up to his side and inform him of it without 
speaking aloud. While leisurely approaching 
the place of rendezvous, in this order, in the 
early grey of the morning, the two men directly 
in his rear, forgetting their orders, suddenly 
called out, " Colonel, the British !" faced about, 
and putting spurs to their horses, were soon 
out of sight. The colonel, looking around, dis- 
covered that he was in the centre of a powerful 
ambuscade, into which the enemy had silently 
allowed him to pass, without his observing 
them. They lined both sides of the road, and 
had been stationed there to pick up any strag- 
gling party of the Americans that might chance 
to pass. Immediately on finding they were dis- 
covered, a file of soldiers rose from the side of 
the highway, and fired at the colonel, but with- 
out effect — and as he put spurs to his horse, 



COLONEL M'lANE. 83 

and mounted the roadside into the woods, the 
other part of the detachment also fired. The 
colonel miraculously escaped : but a shot 
striking his horse upon the flank, he dashed 
through the woods, and in a few minutes 
reached a parallel road upon the opposite side 
of the forest. Being familiar with the country, 
he feared to turn to the left, as that course led 
to the city, and he might be intercepted by 
another ambuscade. Turning, therefore, to the 
right, his frightened horse carried him swiftly 
beyond the reach of those who fired upon him. 
All at once, however, on emerging from a piece 
of w^oods, he observed several British troopers 
stationed near the roadside, and directly in 
sight ahead, a farm-house, around which he 
observed a whole troop of the enemy's cavalry 
drawn up. He dashed by the troopers near 
him, without being molested, they believing 
he w^as on his way to the main body to surrender 
himself. The farm-house was situated at the 
intersection of two roads, presenting but few 
avenues by which he could escape. Nothing 
daunted by the formidable array before him, he 
galloped up to the cross-roads, on reaching 
which he spurred his active horse, turned sud- 
denly to the right, and was soon fairly out of 
the reach of their pistols, though as he turned, 
he heard them call loudly, " Surrender or die !" 
A dozen were instantly in pursuit ; but, in a 
short time, they all gave up the chase, except 
two. Colonel M'Lane's horse, scared by the 
first wound he had ever received, and being a 



84 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 

chosen animal, kept ahead for several miles, 
while his two pursuers followed with unwearied 
eagerness. 

The pursuit at length waxed so hot that, as 
the colonel's horse stepped out of a small brook 
which crossed the road, his pursuers entered at 
the opposite margin. In ascending a little hill, 
the horses of the three were greatly exhausted, 
so much that neither could be urged faster than 
a walk. Occasionally, as one of the troopers 
pursued on a little in advance of his companion, 
the colonel slackened his pace, anxious to be 
attacked by one of the two — but no sooner was 
his willingness discovered, than the other fell 
back to his station. They at length approached 
so near that a conversation took place between 
them : the troopers calling out, " Surrender, 
you damned rebel, or we '11 cut you to pieces. '^ 
Suddenly, one of them rode up on the right side 
of the colonel, and without drawing his sword, 
laid hold of his collar. The latter, to use his 
own words, " had pistols which he knew he 
could depend upon." Drawing one from the 
holster, he placed it to the heart of his antago- 
nist, fired, and tumbled him dead on the ground. 
Instantly the other came up on his left, with 
sworn drawn, and also seized him by the collar 
of his coat. A fierce and deadly struggle here 
ensued ; in the course of which Colonel M'Lane 
was desperately wounded in the back of his left 
hand, cutting asunder the veins and tendons of 
that member. Seizing a favourable opportu- 
nity, he drew his other pistol, and with a stea- 



ATTEMPT TO BRIBE MR. REED. 85 

diness of purpose which appeared even in the 
recital of the incident, placed it directly between 
the eyes of his adversary, pulled the trigger, 
and scattered his brains on every side of the 
road. Fearing that others were in pursuit, he 
abandoned his horse in the highway : and ap- 
prehensive, from his extreme weakness, that he 
might die from lOss of blood, he crawled into 
an adjacent mill-pond, entirely naked, and at 
length succeeded in stopping the profuse flow 
of blood occasioned by his wound. 



GOVERNOR JOHNSTONE'S ATTEMPT ON 
MR. REED. 

On Sunday, June 21st, 1778, Mr. Joseph 
Reed, of Philadelphia, received a written mes- 
sage from Mrs. Ferguson, expressing a desire 
to see him on business, which could not be 
committed to writing. On his attending in the 
evening, agreeably to her appointment, after 
some previous conversation, she enlarged upon 
the great talents and amiable qualities of 
Governor Johnstone, and added, that in several 
conversations with her, he had expressed the 
most favourable sentiments of Mr. Reed ; that 
it was particularly wished to engage his interest 
to promote the objects of the British commis- 
sioners, viz: — a reunion of the two countries, 
if consistent with his principles and judgment; 
8 



86 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

and that in such case it could not be deemed 
unbecoming or improper in the British govern- 
ment to take a favourable notice of such con- 
duct : and that in this instance Mr. Reed might 
have ten thousand pounds sterling, and any 
office in the colonies in his majesty's gift. Mr. 
Reed, finding an answer expected, replied, *' I 
am not worth purchasing, but such as I am the 
King of Great Britain is not rich enough to do 
it." This anecdote is given by Dr. Gordon, 
who was on the royalist side in the war. 



AMERICAN COURTESY. 

" When," says Dr. Gordon, " the British 
prisoners taken at Saratoga began their march 
to Boston, the Americans lined the road on 
each side. They expected to have met with 
many insults while passing through the centre 
of them, supposed to be between eleven and 
twelve thousand troops ; but to their great sur- 
prise, not even the least gesture was made use 
of by way of insult." Considering the exas- 
perating character of the previous warfare, 
this generous courtesy of the American victors 
is remarkable. Other instances of their for- 
bearance in the hour of triumph are numerous. 



CAPTURE OF STONY POINT. 87 



CAPTURE OF STONY POINT. 

No sooner did General Washington observe 
how Sir H. Clinton had strengthened the posts 
of Stony Point and Verplank, than he enter- 
tained the design of attacking them. Toward 
the end of June, he ordered that a trusty, intel- 
ligent person should be employed to go into the 
works of the first ; and on the 8th of July, he 
was informed by a deserter, that there was a 
sandy beach, on the south side of it, running 
along the flank of the works, and only obstructed 
by a slight abbatis, which might afford an easy 
and safe approach to a body of troops. He 
formed plans for attacking both posts at the 
same instant; the executions of which were 
intrusted with General Wayne and General 
Howe. All the Massachusetts light infantry 
marched from West Point, under Lieutenant 
Colonel Hull, in the morning of the 15th, and 
joined Wayne at Sandy Beach, 14 miles from 
Stony Point. The general moved off the ground 
at twelve o'clock. The roads being exceedingly 
bad and narrow, and the troops having to pass 
over high mountains, through difficult defiles 
and deep morasses, were obliged to move in 
single files the greatest part of the way. This, 
and the great heat of the day, occasioned much 
delay, so that it was eight in the evening before 
the van arrived within a mile and a half of the 
enemy, where the men formed into columns, 



88 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

and remained till several of the principal 
officers, with General Wayne, returned from 
reconnoitering the works. At half-past eleven 
o'clock, the whole moved forward ; the van of 
the right consisting of one hundred and fifty 
volunteers, under Lieutenant Colonel Fleury, 
the van of the left, consisting of one hundred 
volunteers, under Major Stuart, each with un- 
loaded muskets and fixed bayonets, preceded by 
a brave and determined officer, with twenty 
picked men, to remove the abbatis and other 
obstructions. The last, and the overflowing of 
the morass in front, by the tide, prevented the 
assault's commencing till about twenty minutes 
after twelve (July 16th). Previous to it, Wayne 
placed himself at the head of the right column, 
and gave the troops the most pointed orders not 
to fire on any account, but place their whole 
dependence on the bayonet, which order was 
faithfully obeyed. Such was the ardour of the 
troops, that in the face of a most tremendous 
and incessant fire of musketry, and from cannon 
loaded with grape-shot, they forced their way 
at the point of the bayonet, through every 
obstacle, and both columns met in the centre 
of the enemy's works nearly at the same instant. 
Fleury struck their standard with his own 
hand. Notwithstanding the provocations given 
by the plunderings and burnings at New Haven, 
East Haven, Fairfield, and Green Farms, of 
which they had heard, such was the humanity 
of the continental soldiers, that they scorned to 
take the lives of the foe calling for mercy, so 



CAPTURE OP STONY POINT. 



89 



that there were but few of the enemy killed 
upon the occasion. Great was the triumph of 
the Americans upon the success of this enter- 
prise, and justly, for it would have done honour 
to the most veteran troops. Wayne had but 
fifteen killed and eighty-three wounded, not 
above thirty of which were finally lost to the 
service. The general himself received a slight 
wound in the head with a musket-ball; but it 
did not prevent his going on with the troops, 
and he is not included in the wounded. The 
enemy had only sixty-three killed. Lieutenant 
Colonel Johnston, who commanded the fort, 
with other officers and privates, amounting to 
five hundred and forty-three, were made pri- 
soners. 




8* 



90 



BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 




DANIEL BOONE. 



The first settlement within the limits of 
Kentucky was made by the celebrated Daniel 
Boone, in 1775. He was a native of Maryland, 
and as early as 17G9, made a visit to this coun- 
try. In 1770 he was living alone in the woods, 
the only white man in Kentucky. The next 
year, he, with his brother, explored the country 
as far as Cumberland river, and in 1775, Boone 
had collected a company of forty-five persons, 
who attempted to form a settlement; but they 
were attacked by the Indians and lost their 
cattle. In 1775, he built a fort where Boons- 
borousfh now stands, and this was the first 



DANIEL BOONE. 91 

effectual settlement in the state. Boone was 
afterwards taken prisoner by the savages, but 
escaped and arrived at Boonsborough, after a 
journey of one hundred and sixty miles through 
the woods, which he performed in four days, 
eating but a single meal in that time. He was 
afterwards actively engaged in warfare with 
the Indians, who continually annoyed the early 
settlers with hostilities. Being subsequently 
vexed with law-suits respecting his title to the 
land in his possession, he retired to the banks 
of the Alissouri, and led a solitary life among 
the forests. " We saw him," says Mr. Flint, 
*' on those banks, with thin, grey hair, a high 
forehead, a keen eye, a cheerful expression, a 
singularly bold conformation of countenance 
and breast, and a sharp and commanding voice, 
and with a creed for the future, embracing not 
many articles beyond his red rival hunters. 
He appeared to us the same Daniel Boone, if 
we may use the expression, jerked and dried to 
high preservation, that he had figured, as the 
wanderer in the woods, and the slayer of bears 
and Indians. He could no longer well descry 
the wild turkey on the trees; but his eye still 
kindled at the hunter's tale, and he remarked 
that the population on that part of the Missouri 
was becoming too dense, and the farms too near 
each other for comfortable range, and that he 
never wished to reside in a place where he 
could not fell trees enough into his yard to keep 
up his winter fire. Dim as was his eye with age, 
it would not have been difllcult, we apprehend, 



92 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

to have obtained him as a volunteer on a 
hunting expedition over the Rocky Mountains. 
No man ever exemplified more strongly the 
ruling passion, strong in death." He died in 
1822, aged eighty-five. 



BRILLIANT EXPLOIT OF COLONEL BARTON. 

Lieutenant Colonel Barton, of a militia 
regiment belonging to Rhode Island, with 
several other oflicers and volunteers, to the 
number of forty, passed by night (July 10th, 
1777,) from Warwick Neck to Rhode Island, 
then in possession of the British army ; and 
though they had a passage of ten miles by 
water, eluded the watchfulness of the ships of 
war and guard-boats which surrounded the 
island. They conducted their enterprise with 
such silence and dexterity, that they surprised 
General Prescot in his quarters, about one mile 
from the water side, and five from Newport, 
and brought him, with one of his aids-de-camp, 
safe to the continent, which they had nearly 
reached before there was any alarm among the 
enemy. This adventure, w hich with impartial 
judges must outweigh Colonel Harcourt's cap- 
ture of General Lee, produced much exultation 
on the one side, and much regret on the other, 
from the influence it would necessarily have on 
Lee's destination. But more than a month 



MRS. WARREN, THE HISTORIAN. 93 

before, Congress had received information that 
Lee was treated by General Howe with kind- 
ness, generosity, and tenderness, which had led 
them to desire that Colonel Campbell and the 
five Hessian officers should be treated in a simi- 
lar manner, consistently with the confinement 
and safe custody of their persons. They re- 
solved, within a few days after hearing of Pres- 
cot's being taken, that an elegant sword should 
be provided and presented to Colonel Barton. 



MRS. WARREN, THE HISTORIAN. 

Mercy Warren, the wife of James Warren, 
a distinguished statesman and patriot, who 
flourished before, and during the revolutionary 
conflict, was born at Barnstable, in the old 
colony of Plymouth, in 1727. She was the 
daughter of Colonel James Otis, of Barnstable, 
and sister to James Otis, the great leader of the 
revolution in Massachusetts. Mrs. Warren 
had fine talents, highly cultivated. Her brother, 
the great patriot, two years older than herself, 
was an excellent scholar, and directed and 
assisted his sister in her studies. Mrs. Warren 
had an active, as well as a powerful mind, and 
took a part in the politics of the day. She kept 
a correspondence with some of the active 
statesmen of the times, and of course was well 
informed in all that was going on in this country 



94 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

and in England. She wrote several satirical 
pieces, poetical and dramatic, which, it is said, 
by those who lived at that time, had a good 
etfect in keeping down tory influence. The 
bold and daring Brigadier Ruggles, severely 
felt the force of her lash. It is said she intended 
to designate him by one of the characters in the 
" Group," an irregular dramatic piece, contain- 
ing much satire even now, when some of the 
peculiar incidents are lost. Mrs. Warren wrote 
also two tragedies, of five acts each, and of 
common length. The first is, the " Sack of 
Rome," and the other, " The Ladies of Castile." 
These dramas were written during the war, 
and published before the close of it, as early as 
1778. These productions are full of patriotic 
feeling and heroic sentiments. The writer was 
master of rhythm, and her lines can be scanned; 
a century hence they will be sought for, and 
read with enthusiasm. They are preserved in 
a volume with other poems, which were printed 
in her life-time. It is not easy, at the present 
time, for us to believe all that has been said of 
the effects of her v»^ritings ; but the tradition is 
too well authenticated to leave a doubt of it on 
our minds. She also wrote the history of the 
revolutionary war, which she published in three 
volumes, in 1805, more than twenty-two years 
after the close of the scenes she narrates. This 
is an excellent work of its kind, rather com- 
bined with a free spirit of democracy. In her 
delineations of character, she was a little too 
suspicious of aristocratic feelings. In drawing 



MRS. WARREN, THE HISTORIAN. 95 

the portrait of John Adams, she exhibited him 
as inclining to aristocratic principles, which 
produced a sharp correspondence between the 
statesman and historian, but which was ami- 
cably settled, and notes of courtesy passed 
between them. She held a free pen, and the 
great defender of independence was not remark- 
able for the virtue of the man of Uz. This his- 
tory shows great research and sound judgment. 
It is seldom that women have written of 
battles with any success, even in fiction. Miss 
Porter is perhaps an exception, and certainly 
Mrs. Warren shows that she had some idea of 
a fight. In the American female historian's 
works, there is one remarkable feature, that is, 
she is careful in detailing circumstances, and 
indulges in no fears in defeat, and no rhapsodies 
in victory. Mrs. Warren was in advance of 
the age as a female writer. Neither Hannah 
More, Miss Edgeworth, Baillie, or any of that 
bright coterie of fair ones, who have come for- 
ward of late years, were in her time known to 
the reading public ; and it was settled almost 
as common law, that women were not to pre- 
sume to teach the reading world, particularly 
in the graver matters of history and politics. 
Mrs. Warren made herself unpopular in taking 
a part against the adoption of the constitution. 
She supplied the opposition in the convention 
of Massachusetts, of 1777, with all their argu- 
ments ; but they could not deliver them with 
her eloquence, and they failed. Mrs. Warren's 
life was protracted to a great age. She died in 



96 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

the autumn of 1814, aged eighty-seven, having 
possessed as good a share of intellect, as much 
information, and more influence, arising from 
mental superiority, than falls to the lot of more 
than one woman in one age. Her descendants 
are numerous and respectable ; and some one 
of them should give us a biography of their 
ancestor, with a collection of her letters. 



BENJAMIN WEST, A SOLDIER. 

WnEJf a very young man, West deviated into 
a course not at all professional — he became a 
soldier, and, joining the troops of Gen. Forbes, 
proceeded in search of the relics of that gallant 
army lost in the desert by the unfortunate Gen- 
eral Braddock. To West and his companions 
were added a select body of Indians ; these 
again were accompanied by several officers of 
the Old Island Watch — the well-known forty- 
second — commanded by the most anxious per- 
son of the detachment, Major Sir Peter Ilalket, 
who had lost his father and brother in that un- 
happy expedition. Though many months had 
elapsed since the battle, and though time, the 
fowls of the air, the beasts of the field, and the 
wild men more savage than they, had done their 
worst, Halket was not without hopes of finding 



BENJAMIN WEST. 97 

the remains of his father and brother, as an In- 
dian warrior assured him that he had seen an 
elderly officer drop dead beneath a large and 
remarkable tree, and a young subaltern, who 
hastened to his aid, fall mortally wounded across 
the body. After a long march through the 
woods, they approached the fatal valley. They 
were affected at seeing the bones of men, who, 
escaping wounded from invisible enemies, had 
sunk down and expired as they leaned against 
the trees ; and they were shocked to see in other 
places the relics of their countrymen mingled 
with the ashes of savage bivouacks. When they 
reached the principal scene of destruction, the 
Indian guide looked anxiously round, darted 
into the wood, and in a few seconds raised a 
shrill cry. Halket and West hastened to the 
place — the Indian pointed out the tree — a cir- 
cle of soldiers was drawn round it, whilst others 
removed the leaves of the forest which had fall- 
en since the fight. They found two skeletons 
— one laying across the other — Halket looked 
at the skulls — said faintly, " it is my father !" 
and dropped senseless in the arms of his com- 
panions. On recovering, he said, " I know who 
it is, by that artificial tooth." They dug a 
grave in the desert, covered the bones with a 
Highland plaid, and interred them reverently. 
This scene, at once picturesque and pious, made 
a lasting impression on the artist's mind. After 
he had painted the death of Wolfe, he proposed 
the finding of the bones of the Halkets, as an 
9 



98 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

historical subject ; and describing to Lord Gros- 
venor the gloomy wood, the wild Indians, the 
passionate grief of the son, and the sympathy 
of his companions, said, he conceived it would 
form a picture full of dignity and sentiment. 



. SAMUEL ADAMS. 

On the evening of the 5th of March, 1770, 
an affray took place between the military quar- 
tered in Boston and some citizens, which result- 
ed in a loss of lives on both sides. On the fol- 
lowing morning, a public meeting was called, 
and Samuel Adams addressed the assembly with 
that impressive eloquence which was so pecu- 
liar to himself. The people, on this occasion, 
chose a committee to wait on the lieutenant- 
governor, to require that the troops be immedi- 
ately withdrawn from the town. The mission, 
however, proved unsuccessful, and another reso- 
lution was immediately adopted, that a new 
committee be chosen to wait a second time upon 
Governor Hutchinson, for the purpose of con- 
veying the sense of the meeting in a more pe- 
remptory manner. Mr. Adams acted as chair- 
man. They waited on the lieutenant-governor, 
and communicated this last vote of the town ; 
and, in a speech of some length, Mr. Adams 
stated the danger of keeping the troops longer 



SAMUEL ADAMS. 99 

in the capital, fully proving the illegality of the 
act itself; and enumerating the fatal conse- 
quences that would ensue, if he refused an im- 
mediate compliance wit ^ the vote. Lieutenant- 
Governor Hutchinson, with his usual prevari- 
cation, replied, and roundly asserted, that there 
was no illegality in the measure ; and repeated, 
that the troops were not subject to his author- 
ity, but that he would direct the removal of the 
twenty-ninth regiment. Mr. Adams again rose. 
The magnitude of the subject, and the manner 
in which it was treated by Lieutenant-Governor 
Hutchinson, had now roused the impetuous feel- 
ings of his patriotic soul. With indignation 
strongly expressed in his countenance, and in a 
firm, resolute, and commanding manner he re- 
plied, '' that it was well known, that, acting as 
governor of the province, he was, by its char- 
ter, the commander-in-chief of his majesty's 
military and naval forces, and as such, the troops 
were subject to his orders; and if he had the 
power to remove one regiment, he had the power 
to remove both, and nothing short of this would 
satisfy the people ; and it was at his peril, if the 
vote of the town was not immediately complied 
with, and if it be longer delayed, he, alone, must 
be answerable for the fatal consequences that 
would ensue." This produced a momentary 
silence. It was now dark, and the people were 
waiting in anxious suspense for the report of 
the committee. A conference in whispers fol- 
lowed between Lieutenant-Governor Hutchin- 
son and Colonel Dalrymple. The former, finding 



100 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

himself so closely pressed, and the fallacy and 
absurdity of his arguments thus glaringly ex- 
posed, yielded up his positions, and gave his 
consent to the removal of both regiments ; and 
Colonel Dalrymple pledged his word and honour 
that he would begin his preparations in the 
morning, and that there should be no unneces- 
sary delay until the whole of both regiments 
were removed to the castle. 



FIRMNESS OF ADAMS. 

Every method had been tried to induce Mr. 
Adams to abandon the cause of his country, 
which he had supported with so much zeal, 
courage, and ability. Threats and caresses had 
proved equally unavailing. Prior to this time 
there is no certain proof that any direct attempt 
was made upon his virtue and integrity, although 
a report had been publicly and freely circulated, 
that it had been unsuccessfully tried by Gover- 
nor Bernard. Hutchinson knew him too well 
to make the attempt. But Governor Gage was 
empowered to make the experiment. He sent 
to him a confidential and verbal message by 
Colonel Fenton, who waited upon Mr. Adams, 
and, after the customary salutations, he stated 
the object of his visit. He said that an adjust- 
ment of the disputes w^hich existed between 
England and the colonies, and a reconciliation, 



FIRMNESS OF ADAMS. 101 

was very desirable, as well as important to the 
interests of both. That he was authorized from 
Governor Gage to assure him, that he had been 
empowered to confer upon him such benefits as 
would be satisfactory, upon the condition, that 
he would engage to cease in his opposition to 
the measures of government. He also observed, 
that it was the advice of Governor Gage, to 
him, not to incur the further displeasure of his 
majesty ; that his conduct had been such as 
made him liable to the penalties of an act of 
Henry VHL, by which persons could be sent 
to England for trial of treason, or misprision of 
treason, at the discretion of a governor of the 
province ; but by changing his political course, 
he would not only receive great personal ad- 
vantages, but would thereby make his peace 
with the king. Mr. Adams listened with appa- 
rent interest to this recital. He asked Colonel 
Fenton if he would truly deliver his reply as it 
should be given. After some hesitation he as- 
sented. Mr. Adams required his word of ho- 
nour, which he pledged. 

Then rising from his chair, and assuming a 
determined manner, he replied, " I trust I have 
long since made my peace with the King of 
KINGS. No personal consideration shall induce 
me to abandon the righteous cause of my coun- 
try. Tell Governor Gage, it is the advice 
OF Samuel Adams to him, no longer to insult 
the feelings of an exasperated people." 
9* 



102 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 



CAPTAIN GEORGE LITTLE. 

Among the vessels which were built by the 
state of Massachusetts, during the war of the 
Revolution, was the sloop Winthrop. She was 
built in the then District of Maine, and for the 
express purpose of protecting our coasting 
trade, which had suffered much by the cap- 
tures, &c. of the enemy. She mounted thirteen 
guns, and was commanded by captain George 
Little, of Mansfield, who had been the first 
lieutenant of the staff ship Protector, John 
Foster Williams, Esq. commander, and who, 
in our quasi war with France, in 1798, com- 
manded the frigate Boston. His first lieute- 
nant in the Winthrop was Edvv^ard Preble, of 
Portland, who also had been an officer on board 
the Protector, and who was afterwards Com- 
modore Preble. The Winthrop was a very 
fortunate vessel, and more than answered the 
expectations of those who built her. She pro- 
tected the coasting trade, made many prizes, 
and covered herself with glory. Soon after 
sailing on her first cruise, she fell in with two 
ships which made a formidable appearance, but 
boldly running down upon them, she captured 
them both. They proved to be two stout Bri- 
tish Letters of Marque, and she immediately 
returned with them to Boston. She made a 
number of prizes afterwards, and recaptured 
some American vessels. In one of her cruises, 



CAPTAIN GEORGE LITTLE. 103 

she recaptured a sloop belonging to the late 
William Gray, Esq., which had been taken by 
the British brig Meriam, of equal or superior 
force to the Winthrop, and with a prize-master 
and crew on board, was ordered for Penobscot, 
to which place the Meriam herself had gone. 
Captain Little immediately resolved upon the 
daring plan of cutting her out. Disguising his 
vessel, so as to give her as much as possible the 
appearance of the prize sloop, he entered the 
harbour of Penobscot in the evening; as he 
passed the fort, he was hailed, and asked what 
sloop that was — he answered, ** The Meriam's 
Prize." It is said that the fort had some sus- 
picions of him, but they suffered him to pass. 
He then ran up towards the brig, and, as he 
approached her, was again hailed and gave the 
same answer — " Take care (said they on board 
the Meriam) you '11 run foul of us." He in- 
formed them that he had been ashore on a reef 
and lost his cables and anchors, and requested 
them to throw him a warp, which was imme- 
diately done. The sloop was then hauled up 
to the brig, and Lieutenant Preble, as had been 
appointed, jumped on board with a number of 
men, who had their various duties assigned 
them — while some slipped the cables, others 
made sail, &c. Preble himself, with a few fol- 
lowers, entered the cabin, where the officers 
were just changing their dress for the purpose 
of going on shore. They made some attempts 
to get their arms for defence, but were soon 
subdued. When they were coming out of the 



104 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

harbour, the fort fired upon them, but Captain 
Little judged it best not to return the fire — he 
kept steadily on his course, and when out of 
reach of their shot, triumphantly let off thirteen 
sky-rockets. In the same cruise he took two 
other vessels, one of which was a schooner of 
eight guns, which he had driven ashore. He 
manned out his boats, went on shore, made the 
crew prisoners, and got off the schooner — with 
his four prizes he returned to Boston. The 
five vessels entered the harbour together in 
fine style, with a leading breeze ; and a gallant 
show they made. 



GENERAL LEE. 



General Lee was remarkably slovenly in 
his dress and manners; and has often, by the 
meanness of his appearance, been subject to 
ridicule and insult. He was once attended by 
General Washington, to a place distant from 
the camp. Riding on, he arrived at the house 
where they were to dine sometime before the 
rest of the company. He went directly to the 
kitchen, demanding something to eat, when the 
cook, taking him for a servant, told him she 
would give him some victuals in a moment — 
but he must help her off with the pot. This 
he complied with, and sat down to some cold 
meat, which she had placed before him on the 



GENERAL LEE. 105 

dresser. The girl was remarkably inquisitive 
about the guests who were coming, particularly 
of Lee, who she said she had heard was one 
of the oddest and ugliest men in the world. In 
a few moments, she desired the General again 
to assist her in placing on the pot, and scarcely 
had he finished, when she requested him to take 
a bucket and go to the well. Lee made no 
objections, and began drawing water. In the 
mean time, General Washington arrived, and 
an aid-de-camp was despatched in search of 
Lee; whom, to his surprise, he found engaged 
as above. But what was the confusion of the 
poor girl on hearing the aid-de-camp address 
the man with the title of general ! The mug 
fell from her hands, and dropping on her knees, 
she began crying for pardon ; — when Lee, who 
was ever ready to see the impropriety of his 
own conduct, but never willing to change it, 
gave her a crown, and turning to his aid-de- 
camp, ot)served, " you see, young man, the 
advantage of a fine coat — the man of conse- 
quence is indebted to it for respect — neither 
virtue nor abilities without it will make you 
look like a gentleman." 




106 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 



EARLY AMERICAN HEROISM. 

During one of the former wars between 
France and England, in which the then colo- 
nies bore an active part, a respectable individual, 
a member of the society of Friends, of the name 

of , commanded a fine ship which sailed 

from an Eastern port, to a port in England. 
This vessel had a strong and effective crew, 
but was totally unarmed. When near her des- 
tined port, she was chased, and ultimately 
overhauled, by a French vessel of war. Her 
commander used every endeavour to escape, 
but seeiiig, from the superior sailing of the 
Frenchman, that his capture was inevitable, 
he quietly retired below : he was followed into 
the cabin by his cabin hoy, a youth of activity 
and enterprise, named Charles Wager : he 
asked his commander if nothing more could be 
done to save the ship — his commander replied 
that it was impossible, that every thing had 
been done that was practicable, there was no 
escape for them, and they must submit to be 
captured. Charles then returned upon deck, 
and summoned the crew around him — he stated 
in a few words what was their captain's con- 
clusion — then, with an elevation of mind, dic- 
tated by a soul formed for enterprise and noble 
daring, he obf^.erved, " if you will place your- 
selves under my command, and stand by me, 
I have conceived a plan by which the ship may 



EARLY AMERICAN HEROISM. 107 

be rescued, and we in turn become the con- 
querors." The sailors, no doubt feeling the 
ardour, and inspired by the courage of their 
youthful and gallant leader, agreed to place 
themselves under his command. His plan was 
communicated to them, and they awaited with 
firmness the moment to carry their enterprise 
into effect. The suspense was of short dura- 
tion, for the Frenchman was quickly alongside, 
and, as the weather was fine, im.mediately 
grappled fast to the unoffending merchant-ship. 
As Charles had anticipated, the exhilarated 
conquerors, elated beyond measure, with the 
acquisition of so fine a prize, poured into his 
vessel in crowds, cheering and huzzaing ; and 
not foreseeing any danger, they left but few 
men on board their ship. Now was the moment 
for Charles, who, giving his men the signal, 
sprang at their head on board the opposing 
vessel, while some seized the arms, which had 
been left in profusion on her deck, and with 
which they soon overpowered the few men left 
on board; the others, by a simultaneous move- 
ment, relieved her from the grappiings which 
united the two vessels. Our hero now having 
the command of the French vessel, seized the 
helm, and placing her out of boarding distance, 
hailed, with the voice of a conqueror, the dis- 
comfited crowd of Frenchmen who were left 
on board of the peaceful bark he had just 
quitted, and summoned them to follow close in 
his wake, or he would blow them out of water, 
(a threat they w^ell knew he was very capable 



108 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

of executing, as their guns were loaded during 
the chase.) They sorrowfully acquiesced with 
his commands, while gallant Charles steered 
into port, followed by his prize. The exploit 
excited universal applause — the former master 
of the merchant vessel was examined by the 
Admiralty, when he stated the whole of the 
enterprize as it occurred, and declared that 
Charles Wager had planned and effected the 
gallant exploit, and that to him alone belonged 
the honour and credit of the achievement. 
Charles was immediately transferred to the 
British navy, appointed a midshipman, and his 
education carefully superintended. He soon 
after distinguished himself in an action, and 
underwent a rapid promotion, until at length 
he was created an admiral, and known as Sir 
Charles Wager. It is said, that he always held 
in veneration and esteem, that respectable and 
conscientious Friend, whose cabin-boy he had 
been, and transmitted yearly to his old master, 
as he termed him, a handsome present of Ma- 
deira, to cheer his declining days. 




EXPLOIT OF MR. JASPER. 109 



EXPLOIT OF MR. JASPER. 

Mr. Jasper, a sergeant in the revolutionary 
army, had a brother who had joined the British, 
and who, likewise, held the rank of sergeant in 
their garrison at Ebenezer. No man could be 
truer to the American cause than sergeant 
Jasper ; yet he warmly loved his tory brother, 
and actually went to the British garrison to 
see him. His brother was exceedingly alarmed, 
lest he should be seized, and hung as an Ameri- 
can spy ; for his name was well known to many 
of the British officers. " Do not trouble your- 
self," said Jasper ; " I am no longer an Ameri- 
can soldier." 

" Thank God for that, William," exclaimed 
his brother, heartily shaking him by the hand ; 
" and now only say the word, my boy, and 
here is a commission for you, with regimentals 
and gold to boot, to fight for his majesty, king 
George." 

Jasper shook his head, and observed, that 
though there was but little encouragement to 
fight for his country, he could not find it in his 
heart to fight against her. And there the con- 
versation ended. After staying two or three 
days with his brother, inspecting and hearing 
all that he could, he took his leave, returned to 
the American camp, by a circuitous route, and 
told General Lincoln all that he had seen. 

Soon after, he made another trip to the Eng- 
10 



110 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

lish garrison, taking with him his particular 
friend, sergeant Newton, who was a young 
man of great strength and courage. His bro- 
ther received him with his usual cordiality; 
and he and his friend spent several days at the 
British fort, without giving the least alarm. 
On the morning of the third day, his brother 
observed that he had bad news to tell him. 

" Ay ! what is it ?" asked William. 

" Why," replied his brother, " here are ten 
or a dozen American prisoners, brought in this 
morning, as deserters, from Savannah, whither 
they are to be sent immediately ; and, from 
what I can learn, it will be apt to go hard with 
them, — for it seems they have all taken the 
king's bounty." 

" Let us see them," said Jasper. So his 
brother took him and his friend Newton to see 
them. It was indeed a melancholy sight to 
see the poor fellows hand-cuffed upon the 
ground. But when the eye rested on a young 
woman, wife of one of the prisoners, with her 
child, a sweet little boy of five years, all pity 
for the male prisoners was forgotten. Her 
humble garb showed that she was poor ; but 
her deep distress, and sympathy with her un- 
fortunate husband, proved that she was rich in 
conjugal love, more precious than all gold. She 
generally sat on the ground, opposite to her 
husband, with her little boy leaning on her lap, 
and her coal-black hair spreading in long, 
neglected tresses on her neck and bosom. 
Sometimes she would sit silent as a statue of 



EXPLOIT OF MR. JASPER. Ill 

grief, her eyes fixed upon the earth ; then she 
would start with a convulsive throb, and gaze 
on her husband's face with looks as piercing 
sad, as if she already saw him struggling in the 
halter, herself a widow, and her son an orphan. 
While the child, distressed by his mother's 
anguish, added to the pathos of the scene, by 
the artless tears of childish suffering. Though 
Jasper and Newton were undaunted in the 
field of battle, their feelings were subdued by 
such heart-stirring misery. As they walked 
out into the neighbouring wood, the tears stood 
in the eyes of both. Jasper first broke silence. 
" Newton," said he, " my days have been but 
few ; but I believe their course is nearly 
finished." 

"Why so, Jasper?" 

" Why, I feel that I must rescue those poor 
prisoners, or die with them; otherwise, the 
remembrance of that poor woman and her child 
will haunt me to my grave." 

" That is exactly what I feel, too," replied 
Newton ; " and here is my hand and heart to 
stand by you, my brave friend, to the last drop. 
Thank God, a man can die but once ; and why 
should we fear to leave this life in the way of 
our duty ?" 

The friends embraced each other, and entered 
into the necessary arrangements, for fulfilling 
their desperate resolution. 

Immediately after breakfast, the prisoners 
were sent on their way to Savannah, under the 
guard of a sergeant and corporal, with eight 



112 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

men. They had not been gone long, before 
Jasp'er, accompanied by his friend Newton, 
took leave of his brother, and set out on some 
pretended errand to the upper country. They 
had scarcely, however, got out of sight of 
Ebenezer, before they struck into the woods, 
and pushed hard after the prisoners and their 
guard, whom they closely dogged for several 
miles, anxiously watching an opportunity to 
make a blow. The hope, indeed, seemed ex- 
travagant; — for what could troo unarmed men 
do against ten, equipped w^ith loaded muskets 
and bayonets? However, unable to give up 
their countrymen, our heroes still travelled on. 
About two miles from Savannah, there is a 
famous spring, generally called the Spa, well 
known to travellers, v/ho often stopped there 
to quench their thirst. *' Perhaps," said Jasper, 
" the guard may stop there." Hastening on 
through the woods, they gained the Spa, as 
their last hope, and there concealed themselves 
among the thick bushes that grew around the 
spring. Presently, the mournful procession 
came in sight of the spring, where the sergeant 
ordered a halt. Hope sprung afresh in the 
bosoms of our heroes, though no doubt mixed 
with great alarms ; for " it was a fearful odds." 
The corporal, with his guard of four men, con- 
ducted the prisoners to the spring, while the 
sergeant, with the other four, having grounded 
their arms near the road, brought up the rear. 
The prisoners, wearied with their long walk, 
were permitted to rest themselves on the earth. 



EXPLOIT OF MR. JASPER. 113 

Poor Mrs. Jones, as usual, took her seat oppo- 
site to her husband, and her little boy, over- 
come with fatigue, fell asleep in her lap. Two 
of the corporal's men were ordered to keep 
guard, and the other two to give the prisoners 
drink out of their canteens. These last ap- 
proached the spring, where our heroes lay con- 
cealed, and, resting their muskets against a 
pine tree, dipped up water. Having drunk 
themselves, they turned away, with replenished 
canteens, to give to the prisoners also. " Now, 
Newton, is our time," said Jasper. Then, 
bursting like lions from their concealment, they 
snatched up the two muskets that were resting 
against the pine, and in an instant shot down 
the two soldiers who were upon guard. It was 
now a contest who should get the loaded mus- 
kets that fell from the hands of the slain ; for 
by this time a couple of brave Englishmen, 
recovering from their momentary panic, had 
sprung and seized upon the muskets ; but, 
before they could use them, the swift-handed 
Americans, with clubbed guns, levelled a final 
blow at the heads of their brave antagonists. 
The tender bones of the skull gave way, and 
down they sunk, pale and quivering, without 
a groan. Then hastily seizing the muskets, 
which had thus a second time fallen from the 
hands of the slain, they flew between their 
surviving enemies and their weapons, grounded 
near the road, and ordered them to surrender ; 
which they instantly did. They then snapped 
10* 



114 



BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 



the hand-cuffs of the prisoners, and armed them 
with muskets. 

At the commencement of the fight, poor Mrs. 
Jones had fallen to the earth in a swoon, and 
her little son stood screaming piteously over 
her. But when she recovered, and saw her 
husband and his friends freed from their fetters, 
she behaved like one frantic with joy. She 
sprang to her husband's bosom, and with her 
arms round his neck, sobbed out, " My husband 
is safe — bless God, my husband is safe!" Then, 
snatching up her child, she pressed him to her 
heart, as she exclaimed, " thank God ! my son 
has a father yet !" Then kneeling at the feet 
of Jasper and Newton, she pressed their hands 
vehemently, but in the fulness of her heart she 
could only say, ''God bless you! God Almighty 
bless you !" 

For fear of being retaken by the English, 
our heroes seized the arms and regimentals of 
the dead, and with their friends and captive 
foes, recrossed the Savannah, and safely joined 
the American army at Purisburgh, to the inex- 
pressible astonishment of all. 




DEATH OF CAPTAIN BIDDLE. 115 



DEATH OF CAPTAIN BIDDLE. 

On the night of the 7th of March, 1778, the 
fatal accident occurred, which terminated the 
life of this excellent officer. For some days 
previously he had expected an attack. Captain 
Blake, a brave officer, who commanded a de- 
tachment of the second South Carolina regi- 
ment, serving as marines on board the General 
Moultrie, and to whom we are indebted for sev- 
eral of the ensuing particulars, dined on board 
the Randolph two days before the engagement. 
At dinner. Captain Biddle said, " We have been 
cruising here for some time, and have spoken a 
number of vessels, who will, no doubt, give 
information of us, and I should not be surprised 
if my old ship should be out after us. As to 
anything that carries her guns upon deck, I 
think myself a match for her." About three, 
P. M. of the 7th of March, a signal was made 
from the Randolph for a sail to windward, in 
consequence of which the squadron hauled upon 
a wind, in order to speak her. It was 4 o'clock 
before she could be distinctly seen, when she 
was discovered to be a ship, though as she near- 
ed and came before the wind, she had the ap- 
pearance of a large sloop with only a square- 
sail set. About seven o'clock, the Randolph 
being to windward, hove to ; the Moultrie, be- 
ing about one hundred and fifty yards astern, 
and rather to leeward, also hove to. About 



116 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 

eight o'clock the British ship fired a shot just 
ahead of the Moultrie, and hailed her ; the an- 
swer was, " the Polly, of New York ;" upon 
which she immediately hauled her wind, and 
hailed the Randolph, She was then, for the 
first time, discovered to be a two-decker. After 
several questions had been asked and answered, 
as she was ranging up alongside the Randolph, 
and had got on her weather-quarter. Lieuten- 
ant Barnes, of that ship, called out, " This is 
the Randolph," and she immediately hoisted her 
colours, and gave the enemy a broadside. 
Shortly after the action commenced. Captain 
Biddle received a wound in the thigh, and fell. 
This occasioned some confusion, as it was at 
first thought that he was killed. He soon, how- 
ever, ordered a chair to be brought, said that 
he was only slightly wounded, and being car- 
ried forward encouraged the crew. The stern 
of the enemy's ship being clear of the Randolph, 
the captain of the Moultrie gave orders to fire, 
but the enemy having shot ahead, so as to bring 
the Randolph between them, the last broadside 
of the Moultrie went into the Randolph, and it 
was thought by one of the men saved, who was 
stationed on the quarter-deck near Captain Bid- 
die, that he was wounded by a shot from the 
Moultrie. The fire from the Randolph was con- 
stant and well-directed. She fired nearly three 
broadsides to the enemy's one, and she appear- 
ed, while the battle lasted, to be in a continual 
blaze. In about twenty minutes after the ac- 
tion began, and while the surgeon was examin- 



DEATH OF CAPTAIN BIDDLE. 117 

ing Captain Biddle's wound on the quarter- 
deck, the Randolph blew up. 

The enemy's vessel was the British ship Yar- 
mouth, of sixty-four guns, commanded by Cap- 
tain Vincent. So closely were they engaged, 
that Captain Morgan, of the Fair American, 
and all his crew, thought that it was the ene- 
my's ship that had blown up. He stood for the 
Yarmouth, and had a trumpet in his hand, to 
hail and inquire how Captain Biddle was, when 
he discovered his mistake. Owing to the dis- 
abled condition of the Yarmouth, the other ves- 
sels escaped. 

The cause of the explosion was never ascer- 
tained, but it is remarkable that just before he 
sailed, after the clerk had copied the signals and 
orders for the armed vessels that accompanied 
him, he wrote at the foot of them, " In case of 
coming to action in tlie night, be very careful 
of your magazines." The number of persons 
on board the Randolph was three hundred and 
fifteen, who all perished except four men, who 
were tossed about for four days on a piece of 
the wreck before they were discovered and taken 
up. From theinformation of two of these men, 
who were afterwards in Philadelphia, and of 
some individuals in the other vessels of the 
squadron, we have been enabled to state some 
particulars of this unfortunate event, in addi- 
tion to the accounts given of it by Dr. Ramsay 
in his History of the American Revolution, and 
in his History of the Revolution of South Car- 
olina. In the former work, the historian thus 



118 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

concludes his account of the action : " Captain 
Biddle, who perished on board the Randolph, 
was universally lamented. He was in the prime 
of life, and had excited high expectations of 
future usefulness to his country, as a bold and 
skilful naval officer." 

Thus prematurely fell, at the age of twenty- 
seven, as gallant an officer as any country ever 
boasted of. In the short career which Provi- 
dence allowed to him, he displayed all those 
qualities which constitute a great soldier — brave 
to excess, and consummately skilled in his pro- 
fession. 




CONQUEST OF NEW YORK. 



119 




CONQUEST OF NEWYORK. 

During nearly ten years of peace, Stuyve- 
sant used diligent exertion in extending and 
consolidating the colony of New Netherlands ; 
all his labours were, however, doomed to prove 
unavailing to the advantage of his country. 
Charles II. had now ascended the British throne; 
and although he had received, during his exile, 
more courtesy from the Dutch than from any 
other nation, he had conceived a peculiar aver- 
sion towards the people of Holland ; and did 
not hesitate to use every means to provoke the 
resentment of the States-general : among others, 
he asserted his claim to the province of New 



120 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 

Netherlands ; and, without any attempt at nego- 
tiation with the States, he executed a charter, 
conveying to the Duke of York the whole ter- 
ritory, from the eastern shore of the Delaware, 
to the western bank of the Connecticut. This 
grant took no more notice of the existing pos- 
session of the Dutch, than it showed respect to 
the recent charter of Connecticut, which, whe- 
ther from design or ignorance, it tacitly, but 
entirely superseded. No sooner did the Duke 
of York obtain this grant, than he conveyed to 
Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret all that 
portion now constituting the province of New 
Jersey. 

It was manifest that this grant would require 
a military force to carry it into effect. While 
the Dutch, notwithstanding the intimations they 
received from Stuyvesant, continued unsuspect- 
ing or incredulous, an armament, under the 
command of Colonel Nichols, who was also ap- 
pointed governor of the province he was about 
to conquer, was prepared and despatched. 
After touching at Boston, the fleet sailed to 
Hudson river, and took a position before the 
capital of New Netherlands. Stuyvesant re- 
solved to make a gallant defence, but his senti- 
ments did not pervade the minds of the inhab- 
itants, who, apprehending all resistance to the 
disciplined forces, and powerful artillery of the 
invaders, utterly hopeless, the most valorous 
and faithful satisfied themselves with the reso- 
lution not to remain the subjects of their tyran- 
nical conqueror, but could not perceive the pro- 



CONQUEST OF NEW YORK. 121 

priety of aggravating their distress by exposing 
their persons and habitations to the certainty 
of capture by storm, and the extremity of miU- 
tary violence. 

Colonel Nichols lost no time in sending a sum- 
mons to surrender the fortress, towns, and the 
whole territory to the king of England, as his 
lawful right, which had been intruded on and 
usurped by the Dutch. The reply of Stuyve- 
sant gave an authentic account of the grounds 
of the claims of the Dutch. 

The reasoning of Stuyvesant, as might have 
been anticipated, did not produce any effect on 
his opponents, who made immediate prepara- 
tions for the reduction of the fort. These prompt 
measures induced the governor to make another 
attempt at negotiation; but Colonel Nichols 
replied, that he could treat on no subject but 
that of surrender. Unsupported as was Stuy- 
vesant by his countrymen, he felt compelled to 
agree to a treaty of capitulation, which was 
concluded on the most favourable terms to the 
inhabitants ; and, to gratify the punctilious feel- 
ings of Stuyvesant, an article was introduced, 
that the English and Dutch limits in America 
should be settled by the court of England and 
the States-o^eneral. On the 27th of August, 
1664, the commissioners, on behalf of both par- 
ties, met at the governor's farm, and signed the 
articles of capitulation. 
11 



122 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY, 



HICKORY CLUBS. 

Baron de Glaubeck having signalized him- 
self in many engagements after the battle of 
Guilford, General Greene recommended him to 
the governor of North Carolina, and advised 
him to put the cavalry of that State under his 
command. The governor took the general's 
advice, and accordingly placed the Baron at the 
head of the cavalry ; but to his great astonish- 
ment, not a man among them had a sword; 
however, in order to supply the deficiency, he 
ordered every man to supply himself with a 
substantial hickory club, one end of which he 
caused to be mounted with a heavy piece of 
iron ; then, to show an example to his men, he 
threw aside his sword, armed himself with one 
of these bludgeons, and mounted his horse. 
After giving his men the necessary instructions 
in wielding their clubs, he marched with his 
whole body, consisting of three hundred, to- 
wards Cornwallis's army, in order to reconnoi- 
tre his lines, where he arrived the same day, 
about one o'clock. Cornwallis was then retreat- 
ing towards Wilmington, and his men being 
fatigued, had halted to take some refreshment. 
The Baron having seized this favourable oppor- 
tunity, charged two Hessian picquets, whom he 
made prisoners; and routed three British regi- 
ments, to whose heads he applied the clubs so 
effectually, that a considerable number were 
killed on the spot ; and finally he retreated with 
upwards of sixty prisoners. 



MRS. ABIGAIL ADAMS. 123 



MRS. ABIGAIL ADAMS. 

Mrs. Ada3is was the daughter of a New 
England clergyman settled within a few miles 
of Boston : a man respectable in his holy office, 
and who educated his children in the best man- 
ner of the times. The personal and mental 
accomplishments of his daughter attracted the 
attention and secured the affection of Mr. 
Adams, then a young man of distinction at the 
bar in Massachusetts. They were married in 
the year 17G4, and resided in Boston. The 
revolutionary difficulties were then fast increas- 
ing, and Mr. Adams was conspicuously engaged. 
When a continental congress was formed, he 
was sent a delegate from Massachusetts to this 
body. It was a perilous moment. The wise 
were baffled, the courageous hesitated, and the 
great mass of the people were inflamed, but 
confused; they had no fixed and settled pur- 
pose, but all was left for the development of 
time. Mr. Adams was one of the boldest in 
the march of honest resistance to tyranny. He 
looked farther than the business of the day, and 
ventured at that early period, to suggest plans 
of self-government and independence. To Mrs. 
Adams he communicated his thoughts freely on 
all these high matters of state, for he had the 
fullest confidence in her fortitude, prudence, 
secrecy, and good sense, without the test which 
the Roman Portia gave her lord, to gain his 



124 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

confidence in matters of policy, ' when the state 
was out of joint/ When Mr. Adams was 
appointed to represent his country at the court 
of St. James, his wife went with him, and such 
was her exquisite sense of propriety, her repub- 
lican simplicity, her delicate and refined man- 
ners, her firmness and dignity, that she charmed 
the proud circles in which she moved, and they 
speak of her, to this day, as one of the finest 
women that ever graced an embassy to that 
country. 

When Mr. Adams was chosen vice-president, 
she was the same unaffected, intelligent, and 
elegant woman. No little managements, no 
private views, no sly interference with public 
affairs, was ever, for a moment, charged to her. 
When her husband came to the chair of the 
chief magistrate, the widest field opened for the 
exercise of all the talents and acquirements of 
Mrs. Adams ; and her fondest admirers were 
not disappointed. She spruced the table by her 
courtesy and elegance of manners, and delighted 
her guests by the powers of her conversation. 
Through the drawing-room she diffused ease 
and urbanity, and gave the charm of modesty 
and sincerity, to the interchanges of civility. 
But this was not all ; her acquaintance with 
public affairs, her discrimination of character, 
her discernment of the signs of the times, and 
her pure patriotism, made her an excellent 
cabinet minister; and, to the honour of her 
husband, he never forgot nor undervalued her 
worth. The politicians of that period speak 



MRS. ABIGAIL ADAMS. 125 

with enthusiasm of her foresight, her prudence, 
and the wisdom of her observations. Tracy 
respected, Bayard admired, and Ames eulo- 
gized her. All parties had the fullest confi- 
dence in the purity of her motives, and in the 
elevation of her understanding. It was a 
stormy period. Fatigue and anguish often 
overwhelmed the president, from the weight 
and multiplicity of his labours and cares ; but 
her sensibility, affection, and cheerfulness, 
chased the frown from his brow, and plucked 
the root of bitterness from his heart. To those 
who see the matters of state at a distance, or 
through the medium of letters, all things seem 
to go on fairly and smoothly ; but those who 
are practically acquainted with the difficulty 
of administering the best of governments, will 
easily understand how much necessity there is 
for the wisdom of the serpent, united with the 
gentleness of the dove ; and they too can com- 
prehend how much the delicate interference of 
a sagacious woman can effect. Pride, vanity, 
and selfishness are full of claims and exactions, 
all bustling and importunate for office and dis- 
tinction. Peremptory denial produces enmity 
and confusion, but gentle evasion and cautious 
replies soften the hearts of the restless, and tem- 
per the passions of the sanguine. An intelligent 
woman can control these repinings, and hush 
these murmurings with much less sacrifice or 
effort than men. A woman knows when to 
apply the unction of soft words, without for- 
getting her dignity, or infringing on a single 
11* 



126 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

principle which the most scrupulous would 
wish to maintain. Mrs. Adams calmed these 
agitations of disappointment, healed the rankling 
wound of offended pride, and left men in admi- 
ration of her talents, and in love with her sin- 
cerity. Notwithstanding these numerous duties 
and great exertions as the wife of a statesman, 
Mrs. Adams did not forget that she was a 
parent. She had several children, and felt in 
them the pride and interest, if she did not make 
the boast of the mother of the Gracchi. Many- 
women fill important stations with the most 
splendid display of virtues ; but few are equally 
great in retirement; there they want the ani- 
mating influence of a thousand eyes, and the 
inspiration of homage and flattery. This is 
human nature in its common form, and the 
exception is honourable and rare. Mrs. Adams, 
in rural seclusion at Quincy, was the same dig- 
nified, sensible, and happy woman, as when 
surrounded by fashion, wit, and intellect. No 
hectic of resentment, no pangs of regret were 
ever discovered by her, while indulging in the 
retrospection of an eventful life, in these shades 
of retirement. Her conversation showed the 
same lively interest in the passing occurrences, 
as though she had retired for a day only, and 
was to have returned on the morrow to take 
her share in the business and pleasures of poli- 
tical existence. There was no trick, no disguise 
in this. It arose from a settled, and perfectly 
philosophical and christian contentment, which 
great minds only can feel. Serenity, purity, 



Washington's farewell. 127 

and elevation of thought preserve the faculties 
of the mind from premature decay, and, indeed, 
keep them vigorous in old age. To such, the 
lapse of time is only the change of the shadow 
on the dial of life. 

The hours whicli are numbered and gone are 
noticed, but tiieir flight does not " chill the 
genial current of the soul." Religious thank- 
fulness for the past, and faith in assurances for 
the future, make " the last drop in the cup of 
existence clear, sweet, and sparkling." 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL. 

On Tuesday noon, (December 4th, 1783,) the 
principal officers of the army assembled at 
Frances's (alias Black Sam's) tavern, to take a 
final leave of their much-beloved commander- 
in-chief. After awhile General Washington 
came in, and callinof for a glass of wine, thus 
addressed them: " With an heart full of love 
and gratitude, I now take leave of you. I 
most devoutly wish, that your latter days may 
be as prosperous and happy, as your former 
ones have been glorious and h«jnourable." 
Having drunk, he said, " I cannot come to 
each of you to take my leave, but shall be 
obliged to you, if each will come and take me 
by the hand." General Knox being nearest, 
turned to him ; Washington, with tears rolling 



128 



BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 



down his cheeks, grasped Knox's hand, and 
then kissed him : he did the same by every 
succeeding officer, and by some other gentle- 
men who were present. The passions of human 
nature were never more tenderly agitated, than 
in this interesting and distressing scene. The 
whole company were in tears. When Wash- 
ington left the room, and passed through the 
corps of light infantry, about two o'clock, in 
his way to Whitehall, the others followed, 
walking in a solemn, mute, and mournful pro- 
cession, with heads hanging down and dejected 
countenances, till he embarked in his barge for 
Powle's Hook. When he had entered, he 
turned, took off his hat, and with that bid them 
a silent adieu. They paid him the same affec- 
tionate compliment, and the barge pushing oflT, 
returned from Whitehall in like manner as they 
had advanced. 




CONNECTICUT CHARTER PRESERVED. 



129 







PRESERVATION OF T?IE CONNECTICUT 
CHARTER. 

Connecticut was destined to suffer, with the 
rest of the colonies, from the violent acts com- 
mitted in the last year's reign of the Stuarts. 
Massachusetts had been deprived of her char- 
ter, and Rhode Island had been induced to sur- 
render hers, when, in July, 1685, a writ o^ quo 
xcarranto was issued against the governor and 
company of Connecticut. The colonial govern- 
ment was strongly advised by Vane to comply 
with the requisition, and surrender the charter ; 
but it was determined neither to appear to 
defend the charter nor voluntarily to surrender 



130 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN fflSTORY. 

it. Sir Edmund Andros made repeated appli- 
cations for the surrender of the charter, but 
without success. The singular mode of its 
escape from his demand in person, is thus 
recorded by Trumbull : *' The assembly met as 
usual, in October, 1G87, and the government 
continued, according to charter, until the last 
of the month. About this time. Sir Edmund, 
with his suite, and more than sixty regular 
troops, came to Hartford, where the assembly 
were sitting, demanded the charter, and de- 
clared the government under it to be dissolved. 
The assembly were extremely reluctant and 
slow with respect to any resolve to surrender 
the charter, or with respect to any motion to 
bring it forth. The tradition is, that Governor 
Treat strongly represented the great expense 
and hardships of the colonists in planting the 
country ; the blood and treasure which they 
had expended in defending it, both against the 
savages and foreigners ; to what hardships and 
dangers he himself had been exposed for that 
purpose ; and that it was like giving up his life 
now to surrender the patent and privileges so 
dearly bought, and so long enjoyed. The im- 
portant affair was debated and kept in suspense 
until the evening, when the charter was brought 
and laid upon the table where the assembly 
were sitting. By this time, great numbers of 
people were assembled, and men sufficiently 
bold to undertake whatever might be necessary 
or expedient. The lights were instantly extin- 
guished, and one Captain Wadsworth, of Hart- 



EXPEDITION OF DE LA BARRE. 131 

ford, in the most silent and secret manner, car- 
ried off the charter, and secreted it in a large 
hollow tree, fronting the house of the Honoura- 
ble Samuel Wyllys, then one of the magistrates 
of the colony. The people appeared all peacea- 
ble and orderly. The candles were officiously 
relighted, but the patent was gone, and no dis- 
covery could be made of it, or of the person 
who had conveyed it away." Though Sir Ed- 
mund was thus foiled in his attempt to obtain 
possession of the charter, he did not hesitate to 
assume the reins of government, which he 
administered in a manner as oppressive in this 
as in the other colonies. When, on the arrival 
of the declaration of the Prince of Orange at 
Boston, Andros was deposed and imprisoned, 
the people of Connecticut resumed their previ- 
ous form of government, having been interrupted 
little more than a year and a half. 



EXPEDITION OF DE LA BARRE. 

The interior of New York was originally 
inhabited by a confederacy, which consisted at 
first of five, and afterwards of six, nations of 
Indians. This confederacy was formed for 
mutual defence against the Algonquins, a pow- 
erful Canadian nation, and displayed much of 
the wisdom and sagacity which mark the insti- 
tutions of a civilized people. By their union 



132 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

they hud become formidable to the surrounding 
tribes. Bcino: the allies of the English, the 
French were alarmed at their successes, and 
became jealous of their power. In the year 
1081, De la Barre, the governor of Canada, 
marched to attack them, with an army of seven- 
teen hundred men. Ilis troops sutiercd so much 
from hardships, famine, and sickness, that he 
was compelled to ask i)cace of those whom he 
had come to exterminate. lie invited the chiefs 
of the Five Nations to meet him at his camp, 
and those of three of them accepted the invita- 
tion. Standing in a circle, formed by the chiefs 
and his own oiiicers, he addressed a speech to 
Garrangula, of the Onondaga tribe, in which he 
accused the confederates of conducting the 
English to the trading grounds of the French, 
and threatened thorn with war and extermina- 
tion if they did not alter t'leir behaviour. Gar- 
rangula, knowing the distresses of the French 
troops, heard these threats with contempt. 
After walking five or six times round the circle, 
he addressed De la Barre in the following bold 
language, calling him Yonnondio, and the 
English governor, Corlear: 

** Hear, Yonnondio ; I do not sleep ; I have 
my eyes open, and the sun which enlightens 
me, discovers to me a great captain, at the head 
of a company of soldiers, who speaks as if he 
was dreaming. He says that he only came to 
smoke the great pipe of peace with the Onon- 
dagas. But Garrangula says, that he sees the 
contrary ; that it was to knock them on the 



EXPEDITION OF DE LA B ARTIE, 133 

head, if sickness had not weakened the arms of 
the French. We carried the English to our 
lakes, to trade there with the Utawawas, and 
Quatoghies, as the Adirondacs brought the 
French to our castles, to carry on a trade which 
the English say is theirs. We are born free; 
we neither depend on Yonnondio nor Corlear. 
We may go where we please, and buy and sell 
what we please. If your allies are your slaves, 
use them as such ; command them to receive no 
other but your people. Hear, Yonnondio! 
what I say is the voice of all the Five Nations. 
When they buried the hatchet at Cadaracui, in 
the middle of the fort, they planted the tree of 
peace in the same place, to be there carefully 
preserved, that instead of a retreat for soldiers, 
the fort might be a rendezvous for merchants. 
Take care that the many soldiers who appear 
there do not choke the tree of peace, and pre- 
vent -it from covering your country and ours 
with its branches. I assure you that our war- 
riors shall dance under its leaves, and will never 
dig up the hatchet to cut it down, till their 
brother Yonnondio or Corlear shall invade the 
country which the Great Spirit has given to 
our ancestors." 

De la Barre was mortified and enraged at 
this bold reply ; but, submitting to necessity, he 
concluded a treaty of peace, and returned to 
Montreal. His successor, De Nonville, led a 
larger army against the confederates; but fell 
into an ambuscade, and was defeated. 
12 



134 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 



EVACUATION OF NEW YORK BY THE BRITISH. 

On Tuesday, November 25th, 1783, was the 
day agreed upon for the evacution of New 
York. To prevent every disorder which might 
otherwise ensue from such an event, the Ameri- 
can troops under the command of General 
Knox, marched from Harlaem to the Bowery 
Lane in the morning. They remained there 
till about one o'clock, when the British forces 
left the posts in the Bowery, and the Americans 
marched forward and took possession of the 
city. 

This being effected, Knox and a number of 
citizens on horseback rode to the Bowery to 
receive their excellencies General Washington 
and Governor Clinton, who, with their suites, 
made their public entry into the city on horse- 
back ; followed by the lieutenant governor and 
the members of council, for the temporary 
government of the southern district, four 
abreast — General Knox and the officers of the 
army, eight abreast — citizens on horseback, 
eight abreast — the speaker of the assembly and 
citizens on foot, eight abreast. The procession 
ceased at Cape's tavern. 

The governor gave a public dinner at Fran- 
ces's kivern ; at which the commander-in-chief 
and other general officers were present. The 
arrangements for the whole business were so 
well made and executed, that the most admira- 



FOUNDING OF HARVARD COLLEGE. 135 

ble tranquillity succeeded through the day and 
night. On Monday, (December 1st,) the go- 
vernor gave an elegant entertainment to the 
French ambassador, the Chevalier de la Lu- 
zerne. Gen. Washington, the principal officers 
of New York state and of the army, and 
upwards of a hundred gentlemen, were present. 
Magnificent fire-works, infinitely exceeding 
everything of the kind in the United States, 
were exhibited at the Bowling Green in Broad- 
way, in the evening of Tuesday, in celebration 
of the definitive treaty of peace. They com- 
menced by a dove's descending with the olive- 
branch, and setting fire to a maroon battery. 



FOUNDING OF HARVARD COLLEGE. 

Scarcely had the venerable founders of New 
England felled the trees of the forest, when 
they began to provide means to insure the sta- 
bility of their colony. Learning and religion 
they wisely judged to be the firmest pillars of 
the commonwealth. The legislature of Massa- 
chusetts, having previously founded a public 
school or college, had, the last year, directed 
its establishment at Newtown, and appointed a 
committee to carry the order into effect. The 
liberality of an individual now essentially con- 
tributed to the completion of this wise and 
benevolent design. John Harvard, a worthy 



136 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY* 

minister, dying this year at Charleston, left a 
legacy of nearly £800 to the public school at 
Newtown. In honour of their benefactor, the 
collegiate school was, by an order of court, 
named Harvard College; and Newtown, in 
compliment to the institution, and in memory 
of the place where many of the first settlers of 
New England received iheir education, was 
called Cambridge. At this time also, Rowley, 
in Massachusetts, was founded by about sixty 
industrious families from Yorkslure, under the 
guidance of Ezekiel Rogers, an eminent minister. 
These settlers, many of whom had been clothiers 
in England, built a fulling-mill ; employed their 
children in spinning cotton wool ; and were the 
first who attempted to make cloth in North 
America. A still more important branch of 
business was introduced this year, that of print- 
ing, the first press ever used in North America 
being established at Canibridge. 




BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 



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BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL 



On the 16th of June, 1775, the Americans 
took possession of Bunker's Hill, an eminence 
which overlooks and commands the town of 
Boston ; and labouring with incredible dili- 
gence and secrecy? they threw up a redoubt, 
and protected it by means of an entrenchment, 
before the approach of day enabled the British 
to discover what they had done. From this 
position General Gage thought it necessary to 
dislodge them. Accordingly, he directed a 
strong body of men, under the orders of 
Generals Howe and Pigot, to land at the foot 
of Bunker's Hill, and to proceed with a detach- 
12* 



138 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

ment of the artillery against the Americans. 
But the latter, having the advantage of the 
ground, poured upon them such an incessant 
and deadly fire of musketry, that the British 
were thrown into confusion ; and so many of 
the officers were killed, that General Howe was 
left almost alone. Yet though twice repulsed, 
with great loss, in consequence of the well- 
directed fire of their opponents, the king's troops 
rallied and advanced again towards the fortifi- 
cations which ttiG provincials had erected. The 
redoubt was now attacked on three sides at 
once ; the ammunition of the colonists began to 
fail ; and the British pressing forward, the Ame- 
ricans were constrained to abandon the post, 
and to retreat in the face of the enemy over 
Charlestown Neck ; where they were exposed 
to a galling fire from the ships in the harbour. 
In this battle the town of Charlestown, which 
is separated from Boston by a narrow sheet of 
water, was reduced to ashes by the order of 
General Pigot, who was saved by that measure, 
as w^ell as by the arrival of General Clinton, 
from the ignominy of a defeat. 

Though the victory in the attack at Bunker's 
Hill was claimed by the royalists, it was not 
gained without considerable loss on their part. 
The flower of the English troops in America 
were engaged, and their killed and wounded 
amounted to 1054; while those of the provin- 
cials were not above half of that number. But 
while the colonists suffered a defeat in this en- 
counter, they were elated, in no ordinary de- 



PAUL JONES. 139 

gree, at the intrepidity which their forces had 
displayed; and they entertained the hope that 
patriotism and an ardent love of freedom would 
enable them to withstand the assaults of the 
British, till experience should render them equal 
to them in discipline and military skill. 

They erected fortifications on the heights in 
the neighbourhood of Charlestown, and reduced 
the king's troops in Boston to very great dis- 
tress, for want of provisions. Far from enter- 
taining any thought of submission, they redou- 
bled their exertions, and increased their vigi- 
lance. 



PAUL JONES. 



After Paul Jones's crew, of the Ranger pri- 
vateer, from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, had 
landed at Lord Selkirk's, in Scotland, in May, 
1778, stripped the house of the plate, and car- 
ried it on board, the ship lay to, while Captain 
Jones wrote a letter to his lordship, which he 
sent on shore, and in which he ingenuously ac- 
knowledged that he meant to have seized and 
detained him as a person of much consequence 
to himself, in case of a cartel ; but disclaiming, 
at the same time, any concern in taking off his 
plate, which, he said, was done by his crew, in 
spite of his remonstrances ; who said they were 
determined to be repaid for the hardships and 



140 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

dangers they had encountered in Kirkcudbright- 
bay — and in attempting, a few days before, to 
set fire to the shipping in the harbour of White- 
haven. Captain Jones also informed his lord- 
ship that he had secured all his plate, and would 
certainly return it to him at a convenient op- 
portunity. This he afterwards punctually per- 
formed, by sending it to Lord Selkirk's banker, 
in London. This fact, authenticated by Lord 
Selkirk himself, is to be found in Gilpin's tour 
to the lakes in Scotland. 



CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL. 

It is frequently remarked that the most laud- 
able deeds are achieved in the shades of retire- 
ment ; and to its truth history testifies in every 
page. An act of heroism or philanthropy, per- 
formed in solitude, where no undue feelings can 
aflfect the mind or bias the character, is worth 
to the eye of an impartial observer whole vol- 
umes of exploits displayed before the gaze of a 
stupid and admiring multitude. It is not long 
since a gentleman was travelling in one of the 
counties of Virginia, and about the close of the 
day stopped at a public house to obtain refresh- 
ment and spend the night. He had been there 
but a short time, before an old man alighted 
from his gig, with the apparent intention of be- 
coming a fellow guest with him at the same 



CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL. 141 

house. As the old man drove up he observed 
that both the shafts of his gig w^ere broken, and 
that they were held together by withes formed 
from the bark of a hickory sapling. Our tra- 
veller observed further that he was plainly clad, 
that his knee-buckles were loosened, and that 
something like negligence pervaded his dress. 
Conceiving him to be one of the honest yeoman- 
ry of our land, the courtesies of strangers pass- 
ed between them, and they entered the tavern. 
It was about the same time that an addition of 
three or four young gentlemen w^as made to 
their number ; most, if not all of them, of the 
legal profession. 

As soon as they became conveniently accom- 
modated, the conversation was turned by one 
of the latter, upon an eloquent harangue which 
had that day been displayed at the bar. It was 
replied by the other, that he had witnessed, the 
same day, a degree of eloquence no doubt equal, 
but that it was from the pulpit. Something 
like a sarcastic rejoinder was made to the elo- 
quence of the pulpit ; and a warm and able 
altercation ensued, in which the merits of the 
Christian religion became the subject of discus- 
sion. From 6 o'clock until 11, the young cham- 
pions wielded the sword of argument, adduc- 
ing, with ingenuity and ability, everything that 
could be said, pro and con. During this pro- 
tracted period, the old gentleman listened with 
all the meekness and modesty of a child, as if 
he was add in s" new information to the stores of. 



142 BEAtTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

his own mind ; or perhaps, he was observing, 
with philosophic eyes, the faculties of the youth- 
ful mind, and how new energies are evolved by 
repeated action ; or, perhaps, with patriotic 
emotion, he was reflecting upon the future des- 
tinies of his country, and on the rising genera- 
tion upon whom those destinies must devolve ; 
or, most probably, with a sentiment of moral 
and religious feeling, he was collecting an argu- 
ment, which, characteristic of himself, no art 
would " be able to elude, and no force to resist." 
Our traveller remained a spectator, and took no 
part in what was said. 

At last one of the young men remarking that 
it was impossible to combat with long and estab- 
lished prejudices, wheeled around, and with 
some familiarity, exclaimed, " Well, my old gen- 
tleman, what think you of these things?" If, 
said the traveller, a streak of vivid lightning 
had at that moment crossed the room, their 
amazement could not have been greater than it 
was with what followed. The most eloquent 
and unanswerable appeal w^as made for nearly 
an hour by the old gentleman that he had ever 
heard or read : so perfect was his recollection 
that every argument urged against the Chris- 
tian religion, was met in the order in which it 
was advanced. Hume's sophistry on the sub- 
ject of miracles was, if possible, more perfectly 
answered than it had already been by Camp- 
bell. And in the whole lecture there was so 
much simplicity and energy, pathos and sublim- 



CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL. 



113 



ity, that not another word was uttered ; an at- 
tempt to describe it, said the traveller, would 
be an attempt to paint the sunbeams. It was 
immediately a matter of curiosity and inquiry 
who the old gentleman was : the traveller con- 
cluded it was the preacher, from whom the pul- 
pit eloquence had been heard ; but no, it was 

the CHIEF JUSTICE OP THE UNITED STATES, 




144 BEAUTIES OI?' AMERICAN HISTORY. 




FLIGHT OF HORSES. 



About the 10th of June, 1810, ^at 2 o'clock 
in the morning, while Col. R. M. Johnson's re- 
giment was encamped on the Peninsula, below 
Fort Wayne, in a beautiful grass plain, some 
of the horses that had passed the line of senti- 
nels and got some distance up the St. Joseph, 
became alarmed and came running into camp 
in a great fright. This alarmed all the horses 
in the regiment, which united in a solid co- 
lumn within the lines, and took three courses 
round the camp. It would seem almost incred- 
ible, but it is a fact ; they appeared not to cover 
more than about 40 by 60 yards of ground, and 



FLIGHT OF HORSES. 145 

yet their number was about 600. The moon 
shone at the fall, the camp was an open plain, 
and the scene awfully sublime. They at length 
forced their passage through the lines, overset 
several tents, carried away several pannels of 
fence, passed off through the woods, and were, 
in a few minutes, out of hearing of the loudest 
bells that belonged to the regiment. The next 
day was spent in collecting them, some of which 
were found ten or twelve miles from the camp 
up the St. Joseph, and about 20 or 25 were 
never found, although pursued above 20 miles. 
This alarming flight of the horses of that regi- 
ment injured them more than could have been 
supposed ; for they had run so long in such a 
compact body that very few had escaped with- 
out being lamed, having their hind feet cut by 
the shoes of those that crowded on them. 

The writer of this was an oflicer of the guard, 
and then on duty. The night being clear and 
calm, the moon rolling in full splendour, the 
flight of the horses, which resembled distant 
thunder, the idea of an immediate attack from 
the Indians, and the ground of our encampment 
being paved with the bones of former warriors, 
all combined to furnish one of those awfully 
sublime JVight Scenes that beggar all descrip- 
tion. 

A similar flight of the horses took place about 
the 22d of June, after the regiment arrived at 
Fort Meigs. 
13 



146 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 



DEATH BEFORE DISHONOUR. 

A NuaiBER of the citizens belonging to Mas- 
sachusetts and New York, who had, in the year 
1788, purchased of the State of Massachusetts 
a large tract of land lying westward of New 
York, and within the territories of the Six Na- 
tions, sent a committee into the Indian country 
to treat with the natives about a quit-claim. 
The Indians heard of their coming, and suppos- 
ing them to be another company, who were aim- 
ing at the same purchase, sent them word to 
com.e no farther, lest they should be involved in 
trouble. The committee having advanced a 
considerable distance into their country, were 
unwilling to retrace their steps without effect- 
ing the object of their mission. One of them, 
Major Schuyler, wrote a letter to the command- 
ing officer at Fort Niagara, explaining their 
intentions, and requesting his influence with the 
Indians in removing their misapprehensions. 
One of the Indian messengers undertook to carry 
the letter to Niagara, and bring back the an- 
swer. The committee remained where they 
were. In the mean time Major Schuyler was 
taken sick, and sent towards Albany, The mes- 
senger returned ; and being asked if he had got 
a letter in answer to the one he had taken, he 
told them (through the interpreter) that he had ; 
but looking round, observed, *' I do not see the 
man to whom I promised to deliver it." They 



DEATH BEFORE DISHONOUR. 147 

informed him of the cause of the major's ab- 
sence ; but told him they were all engaged in 
the same business, had one heart, and that the 
letter was intended for them all; and wished 
he would deliver it. He refused. They con- 
sulted among themselves, and offered him fifty 
dollars, as a reward for his service and an in- 
ducement to deliver them the letter. He spurn- 
ed at their proposal. They again consulted, 
and concluded as they w^ere sufficiently numer- 
ous to overpower him and the other Indians 
who were present, they would take it by force ; 
but first requested the interpreter to explain to 
him the whole matter, the difficulty they were 
in, their loss of time, &c. &c., and their deter- 
mination to have the letter. As soon as this 
w^as -communicated to the Indian, he sternly 
clenched the letter in one hand, drew his knife 
with the other, and solemnly declared that if 
they should get the letter by violence, he would 
not survive the disgrace, but would plunge the 
knife in his own breast. They desisted from 
their purpose and reasoned with him again, but 
he was inflexible. They then asked him if he 
was willing, after having taken so long a jour- 
ney, to go a hundred miles farther for the sake 
of delivering the letter to Major Schuyler. He 
answered, " Yes, I do not value fatigue ; hut, 
I will never he guilty of a breacli of trust J ^ Ac- 
cordingly, he went, and had the satisfaction of 
completing his engagement. The letter was 
favourable to their views, and they entered into 
a treaty for the land. 



148 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 



DEATH OF BARON DE KALB. 

Immediately on receiving orders of depart- 
ure, we waited on the good old De Kalb to take 
our leave, and to express our deep regret at 
parting w^th him. " It is with equal regret, 
my dear sire, that I part with you," said he ; 
" because I feel a presentiment that we part to 
meet no more !" 

We told him we hoped better things. 

" Oh no !" replied he, " it is impossible. VYar 
is a kind of game, and has its fixed rules, 
whereby, when we are well acquainted with 
them, we can pretty correctly tell how the 
trial will go. To-morrow, it seems, the die is 
to be cast; and, in my judgment, without the 
least chance on our side. The militia will, I 
suppose, as usual, play the hack-gaine ; that is, 
get out of battle as fast as their legs will carry 
them. But that, you know, won't do for me. 
I am an old soldier, and cannot run ; and I 
believe I have some brave fellows that will 
stand by me to the last. So, when you hear 
of our battle, you will probably hear that your 
old friend De Kalb is at rest," 

I never w as more affected in my life ; and I 
perceived tears in the eyes of General Marion. 
De Kalb saw them too ; and taking us by the 
hand, he said, with a firm tone and animated 
look, " No ! no ! gentleman ; no emotion for me, 
but those of congratulation. I am happy. To 



DEATH OF BARON DH KALB. 149 

die is the irreversible decree of him who made 
us. Then what joy to be able to meet death 
-without dismay ! This, thank God, is my case. 
The happiness of man is my wish ; that happi- 
ness I deem inconsistent with slavery. And to 
avert so great an evil from an innocent people, 
I will gladly meet the British to-morrow, at 
any odds whatever." 

As he spoke this, a fire flashed from his eyes, 
which seemed to me to demonstrate the divinity 
of virtue, and the immortality of the soul. We 
left him with feelings which I shall never for- 
get, while memory maintains her place in my 
aged brain. 

It was on the morning of August 15th, 1780, 
that we left the army in a good position, near 
Rugeley's mills, twelve miles from Camden, 
where the enemy lay. About ten, that night, 
orders were given to march and surprise the 
enemy, who had, at the same time, commenced 
a march to surprise the Americans. To their 
mutual astonishment, the advance of both ar- 
mies met at two o'clock, and began firing on 
each other. It was, however, soon discontinued 
by both parties, who appeared very willing to 
leave the matter to be decided by day-light. 
A council of war was called, in which De Kalb 
advised that the army should fall back to Ruge- 
ley's mills, and wait to be attacked. General 
Gates not only rejected this excellent counsel, 
but threw out insinuations that it originated in 
fear. Upon this, the brave old man leaped from 
his horse, and placed himself at the head of his 
13* 



150 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

command on foot, saying, with considerable 
warmth, " Well, sir, perhaps a few hours will 
show who are the brave." 

As day-light increased, the frightened militia 
began to discover the woods, reddened all over 
with the scarlet uniform of the British army, 
which soon, with rattling drums and thundering 
cannon, came rushing on to the charge ; and 
they scarcely waited to give them a distant 
fire before they broke, and fled in every direc- 
tion. General Gates clapped spurs to his 
horse, as he said, " to bring the rascals back." 
However, he did not bring himself back, nor 
did he stop till he reached Charlotte, eighty 
miles from the field of battle. Two thirds of 
the army having thus shamefully taken them- 
selves off, the brave old De Kalb and his hand- 
ful of continentals were left to try the fortun-e 
of the day. More determined valour was never 
displayed: for though out-numbered more than 
two to one, they sustained the whole British 
force for more than an hour. Glorying in the 
bravery of his continentals, De Kalb towered 
before them like a pillar of fire. But, alas ! 
what can valour do against equal valour, aided 
by such fearful odds? While bending forward 
to animate his troops, the veteran received 
eleven wounds. Fainting with loss of blood, 
he fell to the ground, while Britons and Ameri- 
cans were killed over him, as they furiously 
strove to destroy or to defend. In the midst 
of clashing bayonets, his only surviving aid. 
Monsieur de Buy son, stretched his arms over 



DEATH OF BARON DE KALB. 151 

the fallen hero, and called out, ^' Save the 
Baron de Kalb ! save the Baron de Kalb !" 
The British officers then interposed, and pre- 
vented his immediate destruction. 

De Kalb died, as he had lived, the uncon- 
quered friend of liberty. When an English 
officer condoled with him for his misfortune, he 
replied, " I thank you, sir, for your generous 
sympathy ; but 1 die the death I always prayed 
for ; the death of a soldier, fighting for the 
rights of man." He survived but a few hours, 
and was buried in the plains of Camden, near 
which his last battle was fought. 

Many years after, when the great Washington 
visited Camden, he eagerly inquired for the 
grave of De Kalb. It was shown to him. 
Gazing upon it thoughtfully, he exclaimed, with 
a deep sigh, " So, there lies the brave De Kalb; 
the generous stranger, who came from a distant 
land to fight our battles, and to water, with his 
blood, the tree of our liberty. Would to God 
he had lived to share its fruits !" 




152 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 



THE WIFE OF WASHINGTON. 

Martha Washington, wife of General George 
Washington, was born in Virginia, in the same 
year with her husband, 1732, according to 
Weems ; and probably he knew as well as any 
of Washington's biographers. She was the 
widow Custis when she married Colonel Wash- 
ington, in 1758. She is mentioned by Ramsay, 
Marshall, Bancroft and Weems, as wealthy 
and beautiful, one to whom Washington had 
been long attached; but neither of them give 
her maiden name; and all but Weems forgot 
to mention the time of her birth. But we 
believe that her maiden name was Dandridge. 
She was known, to those who visited Mount 
Vernon, as a woman of domestic habits and 
kind feelings, before her husband had gained 
more than the distinction of a good soldier and 
gentlemanly planter, with whom one might 
deal with safety, and be sure of getting fair 
articles at a fair price. After Washington was 
appointed to command the American armies, 
and had repaired to Cambridge to take the 
duties upon himself, Mrs. Washington made a 
visit to the eastern states, and spent a short 
time with her husband in the camp at Cam- 
bridge. The quarters were excellent, for the 
Vassals and other wealthy tories had deserted 
their elegant mansions at Cambridge, which 
were occupied by the American officers. After 



THE WIFE OF WASHINGTON. 153 

this visit Mrs. Washington was seldom with 
her husband, until the close of the war. She 
met him at Annapolis, in Maryland, when he 
resigned his commission, at the close of the 
year 1783. It is not remembered that she 
came to New York with the president, when 
the federal government was organized, in 1789; 
but was at Philadelphia during the first session 
after its removal to that city. A military man 
like Washington could not suffer even the cour- 
tesies of social intercourse to move on without 
a strict regard to economical regulations. 
These were displayed with good manners and 
taste. Mrs. Washington, in her drawing-room, 
was of course obliged to exact courtesies which 
she thought belonged to the officer, rather than 
those which were congenial to herself. The 
levees in Washington's administration were 
certainly more courtly than have been known 
since. Full dress was required of all who had 
a right to be there, but since that time, any 
dress has been accepted as proper which a 
gentleman chose to wear. At table, Mrs. 
Washington seldom conversed upon politics ; 
but attended strictly to the duties of the hostess. 
Foreign ambassadors often attempted to draw 
her into a conversation upon public affairs, but 
she always avoided the subject with great pro- 
priety and good sense. 

It was not in the saloons of Philadelphia, 
when heartless thousands were around her, that 
Mrs. Washington shone the most conspicuous. 



154 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

It was at her plain mansion-house, at Mount 
Vernon, that she was most truly great. There 
she appeared, with her keys at her side, and 
gave directions for every thing, so that, without 
any bustle or confusion, the most splendid din- 
ner appeared, as if there had been no effort in 
the whole affair. She met her guests with the 
most hospitable feelings, and they always de- 
parted from the place with regret. Her first 
husband, John Custis, died young, and her son 
died still younger, leaving two children, a son 
and a daughter. A great part of her time was 
absorbed in assisting in the education of these 
children. They were the favourites of Mount 
Vernon. The place was one of general resort 
for all travellers ; and every one, from every 
nation, who visited this country, thought that 
his American tour could not be finished unless 
he had been at Mount Vernon, and had seen 
the Washington family, and partaken of the 
cakes of the domestic hearth. Of course, no 
eastern caravansary was ever more crowded 
than the mansion-house at Mount Vernon, in 
the summer months. Washington died in less 
than three years after his retirement from 
office. He was as great, if not a greater, 
object of curiosity in retirement, than in public 
life ; for it was almost miraculous, to a foreign- 
er, to see the head of a great nation calmly 
resigning power and office, and retiring to a 
rural resideiice to employ himself in agricul- 
tural pursuits. Seeing was to them the only 



THE WIFE OF WASHINGTON. 155 

method of believing ; and they would see. 
Mrs. Washington did not long survive her hus- 
band ; in eighteen months she followed him to 
his grave. She was an excellent parent, a 
good wife, an important member of society, 
and passed a long life without an enemy. It 
is to be regretted that an ample memoir of this 
excellent woman has not been written ; but we 
must content ourselves at present with a scanty 
notice. The few letters, that have been pub- 
lished, that came from her, show that she wrote 
with good taste and in a pleasant style. Her 
ashes repose in the same vault with those of her 
august husband, a family tomb, built within the 
pale of the pleasure grounds around the house, 
at Mount Vernon. 




156 



BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 




PENN'S TREATY. 



The colonies in general merit little praise 
for their wisdom and discretion in their conduct 
with the Indians. They were too prone to 
look on the wild man as an inferior being, and 
to set themselves up as lords over his rights 
and property, without remembering that they 
were intruders on his soil, or condescending to 
meet him, even in the land of his fathers, on 
equal and amicable terms. But the memorable 
interview of Penn with the Indians, on the 
banks of the Delaware, exhibited a different 
scene; the even scales of justice, and the mild 
persuasion of Christian love, were the powerful 



penn's treaty. 157 

engines with which he swayed the barbarian 
mind, and taught the savage to confide in the 
sincerity of the white man ; and the first page 
in the annals of Pennsylvania is one of the 
brightest in the history of mankind, recording 
an event not more to the credit of the wise 
and benevolent legislator, through whose agency 
it happened, than honourable to humanity itself. 
At a spot which is now the site of one of the 
suburbs of Philadelphia, the Indian sachems, 
at the head of their assembled warriors, awaited 
in arms the approach of the quaker deputation. 
Penn, distinguished from his followers only by 
a sash of blue silk, and holding in his hand a 
roll of parchment that contained the confirma- 
tion of the treaty, arrived, at the head of an 
unarmed train, carrying various articles of 
merchandise, which, on their approach to the 
sachems, were spread on the ground. He 
addressed the natives through an interpreter, 
assuring them of his friendly and peaceable 
intentions ; and certainly the absence of all 
warlike weapons was a better attestation of his 
sincerity than a thousand oaths. The condi- 
tions of the proposed purchase were then read ; 
and he delivered the sachems not only the 
stipulated price, but a handsome present of the 
merchandise which he had spread before them. 
He concluded by presenting the parchment to 
the sachems, and requesting that they would 
carefully preserve it for three generations. The 
Indians cordially acceded to his propositions, 
and solemnly pledged themselves to live in love 
14 



158 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 

with William Penn and his children as long as 
the sun and moon should endure. 

The prudence with which Penn conducted 
himself was strictly consistent with a sincere 
attachment to his own opinions. He evidently 
appreciated more correctly the rights of his 
fellow men than his northern neighbours, the 
puritan colonists. He believed, and acted on 
the belief, that the Indians had as much right 
to hold the peculiarities of their creed, as he 
had to hold his own religious tenets ; and he 
never gave them unnecessary offence by treat- 
ing their sentiments with bitterness, or, what 
is more keenly felt, by contempt. This prudent 
conduct, together with a still more extraor- 
dinary reliance upon the protection of Provi- 
dence in refusing to maintain any armed force, 
although surrounded with the warlike abori- 
gines, was attended by a no less singular 
exemption from evils arising to every other 
European colony, without exception, from the 
neighbourhood of the Indian tribes. Whatever 
animosity the Indians might conceive against 
the European neighbours of the Pennsylva- 
nians, or even against Pennsylvanian colonists 
who did not belong to the quaker society, they 
never failed to discriminate the followers of 
Penn, as persons whom it was impossible for 
them to include within the pale of legitimate 
hostility. This unique and interesting fact 
has, doubtless, availed more than all arguments 
in support of the alleged immorality of all kinds 
of resistance which can result in the depriva- 
tion of human life. 



YOUNG AMERICAN TAR. 159 



YOUNG AMERICAN TAR. 

While the frigate United States was lying 
in the harbour of Norfolk, some time anterior 
to the declaration of war in 1812, a little boy 
in petticoats was in the habit of accompanying 
his mother, a poor woman, who frequently vis- 
ited the ship to wash for the seamen. The lad, 
whose name was John Kreamer, soon became 
a favourite with the sailors, and it was deter- 
mined by them, if his mother would consent, to 
adopt him as one of their number. He came 
on board, and recommended himself by his ac- 
tivity and shrewdness to the favour of every 
one. War was subsequently declared against 
Great Britain, and the frigate sailed upon a 
cruise, in which she captured the enemy's fri- 
gate Macedonian. As the two vessels were 
approaching each other. Commodore Decatur, 
who was standing upon the quarter-deck, watch- 
ing with his glass the movements of his adver- 
sary, noticed that little Jack appeared anxious 
to speak to him. " What do you want ?" said 
Decatur. Jack coolly answered, that ." he had 
come to ask that his name might be enrolled on 
the ship's books!" " For what purpose?" said 
the Commodore. " Because," replied Jack, " I 
want to draw my share of the prize-money." 
Pleased with the boy's confident anticipation 
of victory, Decatur immediately gave orders to 
have his name registered, and when the prize- 



160 



BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 



money allowed by Congress was distributed. 
Jack received his proportion. From that time 
he was regarded by the commodore with more 
than ordinary interest, was taken into his cabin, 
and prepared for the duties of a higher station. 
He was constantly about Decatur's person, and 
acted as the coxswain of his own barge. So 
soon as his age would justify an application to 
the Navy Department for a midshipman's war- 
rant, it was made, and promptly complied with. 
Little Jack, as he was formerly styled by the 
sailors, was thus transformed into Mr. Kreamer, 
and was with Decatur in the President when 
she was captured, and in the Guerriere in the 
expedition to Algiers. He afterwards sailed in 
the Franklin 74, with Commodore Stewart, to 
the Pacific Ocean. That was his last cruise. 
He was upset in one of the ship's boats by a 
sudden squall in the harbour of Valparaiso, and 
sunk to the bottom before any assistance could 
be afforded. 




BOSTON MASSACRE. 



161 




BOSTON MASSACRE. 



Frequent quarrels had arisen between the 
inhabitants and the soldiers, who had been sta- 
tioned at Boston in the autumn of 176S ; but the 
public peace was preserved till the evening of 
the 5th of March, 1770, when a scuffle ensued, 
near the barracks, between a few soldiers and 
some young men of the town ; the soldiers pur- 
sued the young men through the streets ; the 
townsmen took the alarm ; the bells of the 
churches were rung; the multiiude assembled 
at the custom-house, and insulted and threat- 
ened the sentinel stationed there. Captain Pres- 
ton, the officer on duty at the time, hastened 
14* 



162 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

with a party to support the sentinel : he endea- 
voured to persuade the people to disperse ; but 
his humane and peaceful efforts were unavail- 
ing. The mob became more riotous than be- 
fore, throwing stones and other missiles at the 
military. At length a soldier who had been 
struck fired on the multitude ; some of his com- 
rades soon followed his example : four persons 
were killed, and several wounded. The crowd 
fled, but soon collected in another street. The 
drums beat to arms ; the troops were drawn 
out ; and the utmost agitation and confusion 
prevailed in the town. 

A meeting of the inhabitants was held, and 
a deputation sent to the governor, requesting 
him to remove the troops. He assembled the 
council, who were of opinion that the removal 
of the troops would be for the good of his ma- 
jesty's service. The troops were accordingly 
removed to Castle William. Captain Preston 
surrendered himself for trial ; and the soldiers 
who had been under his command at the cus- 
tom-house were taken into custody. 

Some days afterwards, the bodies of those 
who had been killed in the riot, accompanied 
by a great concourse of people, displaying em- 
blematical devices calculated to inflame the 
popular mind, were carried in funeral proces- 
sion through the town to the place of sepulture. 
The colonial newspapers gave an inflammatory 
account of the transaction, representing it as 
an atrocious massacre of the peaceable inhab- 
itants. 



THE BRAVE NOT MERCENARY. 163 

Fortunately for Captain Preston and his party, 
their trial was delayed till the month of Octo- 
ber. Before that time the irritation of the pub- 
lic mind had somewhat abated ; and Captain 
Preston and six of his men, after the examina- 
tion of many witnesses, were acquitted even 
by a Boston jury. Two of the party were 
found guilty of manslaughter. 



THE BRAVE NOT MERCENARY. 

Count Dillon, commander of the Irish brig- 
ade, in the service of France, and who led on 
the third column of the allied armies in their 
assault of the British garrison at Savannah, on 
the 9th of October, 1779, anxious that his regi- 
ment should signalize itself, offered 100 guineas 
as a reward to the first of his grenadiers that 
should plant a fascine in the fosse, which was 
exposed to the whole fire of the garrison. Not 
one offered to advance. The Count, mortified 
and disappointed beyond measure, began up- 
braiding them with cowardice, when the ser- 
geant-major made the following noble reply : — 
" Had you not, sir, held out a sum of money as 
a temptation, your grenadiers would one and 
all have presented themselves." — They did so 
instantly, and out of one hundred and ninety- 
four, of which the company consisted, only 
ninety returned alive. 



164 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 



DON'T GIVE UP THE VESSEL. 

In May, 1776, Captain Mugford, command- 
ing the continental armed schooner Franklin, 
captured a British ship of about 300 tons, and 
mounting six guns. In the then state of the 
country she was invaluable, as her cargo was 
made up entirely of the ammunitions of war. 
Captain Mugford, after seeing his prize safe 
into Boston harbour, was going out again, but 
the tide making against him, he came to an an- 
chor off Pudding-gut Point ; the next morning, 
by the dawn of day, the sentry saw thirteen 
boats, from the British men-of-war, making for 
them ; they were prepared to receive them be- 
fore they could board the schooner. She sunk 
five of the boats, the remainder attempting to 
board, they cut off the hands of several of the 
crews as they laid them over the gunwale. The 
brave Captain Mugford, making a blow at the 
people in the boats with a cutlass, received a 
wound in the breast, on which he called his 
lieutenant, and said, " I am a dead man : don^t 
give up the vessel ; you will be able to beat them 
off; if not, cut the cable and run her on shore." 
He expired in a few minutes. The lieutenant 
then ran her on shore, and the boats made off. 
Those who were taken up from the boats which 
were sunk, say they lost seventy men ; the 
Franklin had but one man killed besides the 
captain. 



HEROIC EXPLOIT OF PETER FRANCISCO. 165 



HEROIC EXPLOIT OF PETER FRANCISCO. 

While the British army were spreading 
havoc and desolation all around them, by their 
plundering and burnings in Virginia, in 1781, 
reter Francisco, an American trooper, had been 
reconnoitring, and whilst stopping at the house 
of a Mr. Wand, in Amelia county, nine of Tarle- 
ton's cavalry coming up with three negroes, 
told him he was a prisoner. Seeing himself 
overpowered by numbers, he made no resist- 
ance ; and believing him to be very peaceable, 
they all went into the house, leaving the pay- 
master and Francisco together. He demanded 
his watch, money, Slc, which being delivered 
to him, in order to secure his plunder, he put 
his sword under his arm, with the hilt behind 
him. While in the act of putting a silver 
buckle in his pocket, Francisco, finding so fa- 
vourable an opportunity to recover his liberty, 
stepped one pace in his rear, drew the sword 
with force from under his arm and instantly gave 
him a blow across the scull. " My enemy," 
observed Francisco, " was brave, and though 
severely wounded, drew a pistol, and, in the 
same moment that he pulled the trigger, I cut 
his hand nearly off. The bullet grazed my side. 
Ben Wand (the man of the house) very ungen- 
erously brought out a m^usket, and gave it to 
one of the British soldiers, and told him to make 
use of that. He mounted the only horse they 



166 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

could get, and presented it at my breast. It 
missed fire. I rushed on the muzzle of the gun. 
A short struggle ensued. I disarmed and wound- 
ed him. Tarleton's troop of four hundred men 
were in sight. All was hurry and confusion, 
which I increased by repeatedly hallooing, as 
loud as I could. Come on, my brave boys ; now 's 
your time; we will soon despatch these few, and 
then attack the main body ! The wounded man 
flew to the troop ; the others were panic-struck, 
and fled. I seized Wand, and would have des- 
patched him, but the poor wretch begged for 
his life ; he was not only an object of my con- 
tempt, but pity. The eight horses that were 
left behind, I gave him to conceal for me. Dis- 
covering Tarleton had despatched ten more in 
pursuit of me, I made ofl". I evaded their vigi- 
lance. They stopped to refresh themselves. I, 
like an old fox, doubled and fell on their rear. 
I went the next day to Wand for my horses ; 
he demanded two, for his trouble and generous 
intentions. Finding my situation dangerous, 
and surrounded by enemies where I ought to 
have found friends, I went off" with my six 
horses. I intended to have avenged myself of 
Wand at a future day, but Providence ordained 
I should not be his executioner, for he broke his 
neck by a fall from one of the very horses." 



DESTRUCTION OF THE GASPEE. 167 



DESTRUCTION OF THE GASPEE. 

The occurrences of the year 1772, afforded 
new sources of mutual animosity. The destruc- 
tion of his majesty's revenue-schooner, Gaspee, 
was one of those popular excesses which highly 
incensed the British ministry. Lieutenant Dod- 
dington, who commanded that vessel, had 
become very obnoxious to the inhabitants of 
Rhode Island, by his extraordinary zeal in the 
execution of the revenue laws. On the 9th of 
June, the Providence packet was sailing into 
the harbour of Newport, and Lieutenant Dod- 
dington thought proper to require the captain 
to lower his colours. This the captain of the 
packet deemed repugnant to his patriotic feel- 
ings, and the Gaspee fired at the packet to 
bring her to : the American, however, still per- 
sisted in holding on her course, and by keeping 
in shoal water, dexterously contrived to run the 
schooner aground in the chase. As the tide 
was upon the ebb, the Gaspee was set fast for 
the night, and afforded a tempting opportunity 
for retaliation ; and a number of fishermen, 
aided and encouraged by some of the most 
respectable inhabitants of Providence, being 
determined to rid themselves of so uncivil an 
inspector, in the middle of the night manned 
several boats, and boarded the Gaspee. The 
lieutenant was wounded in the afifray ; but, 
with everything belonging to him, he was care- 



168 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

fully conveyed on shore, as were all his crew. 
The vessel, with her stores, was then burnt ; 
and the party returned unmolested to their 
homes. When the governor became acquainted 
with this event, he offered a reward of five 
hundred pounds for the discovery of the offend- 
ers, and the royal pardon to those who would 
confess their guilt. Commissioners were ap- 
pointed also to investigate the offence, and bring 
the perpetrators to justice ; but, after remain- 
ing some time in session, they reported that they 
could obtain no evidence, and thus the affair 
terminated; a circumstance which forcibly 
illustrates the inviolable brotherhood which 
then united the people against the government. 



DESTRUCTION OF THE TEA IN BOSTON. 

The British government, having determined 
to carry into execution the duty on tea, at- 
tempted to effect by policy what was found to 
be impracticable by constraint. The measures 
of the colonists had already produced such a 
diminution of exports from Great Britain, that 
the warehouses of the East India Company 
contained about seventeen millions of pounds 
of tea, for which a market could not readily be 
procured. The unwillingness of that company 
to lose their commercial profits, and of the 
ministry to lose the expected revenue from the 



DESTRUCTION OP THE TEA. 169 

sale of the tea in America, led to a compromise 
for the security of both. The East India Com- 
pany were authorized by law to export their 
tea, free of duties, to all places whatever; by 
which regulation, tea, though loaded with an 
exceptionable duty, would come cheaper to 
America than before it had been made a source 
of revenue. The crisis now approached, when 
the colonies were to decide whether they would 
submit to be taxed by the British parliament, 
or practically support their own principles, and 
meet the consequences. One sentiment appears 
to have pervaded the entire continent. The 
new ministerial plan was universally considered 
as a direct attack on the liberties of the colo- 
nists, which it was the duty of all to oppose. A 
violent ferment was everywhere excited ; the 
corresponding committees were extremely ac- 
tive ; and it was very generally declared, that 
whoever should, directly or indirectly, coun- 
tenance this dangerous invasion of their rights, 
would be an enemy to his country. The East 
India Company, confident of finding a market 
for their tea, reduced as it now was in its 
price, freighted several ships to the colonies 
with that article, and appointed agents for the 
disposal of it. Cargoes were sent to New York, 
Philadelphia, Charleston, and Boston. The 
inhabitants of New York and Philadelphia sent 
the ships back to London, *' and they sailed up 
the Thames to proclaim to all the nation that 
New York and Pennsylvania would not be 
enslaved." The inhabitants of Charleston un- 
15 



170 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

loaded the tea, and stored it in cellars, where it 
could not be used, and where it finally perished. 
At Boston, before the vessels arrived with it, 
a town-meeting was called to devise measures 
to prevent the landing and sale within the pro- 
vince. The agreement not to use tea while a 
duty was imposed was now solemnly renewed ; 
and a committee was chosen to request the con- 
signees of the East India Company neither to 
sell nor unlade the tea which should be brought 
into the harbour. They communicated the 
wishes of the town to the merchants, who were 
to have the custody and sale of the tea ; but 
they declined making any such promise, as they 
had received no orders or directions on the 
subject. On the arrival of the vessels with the 
tea in the harbour of Boston, another meeting 
of the citizens was immediately called. " The 
hour of destruction," it was said, '' or of manly 
opposition, had now come ;" and all who were 
friends to the country were invited to attend, 
" to make an united and successful resistance 
to this last and worst measure of the adminis- 
tration." A great number of people assembled 
from the adjoining towns, as well as from the 
capital, in the celebrated Fanueil Hall, the usual 
place of meeting on such occasions, but the 
meeting was soon adjourned to one of the largest 
churches in the town. Here it was voted, as it 
had been at a meeting before the tea arrived, 
that they would use all lawful means to prevent 
its being landed, and to have it returned imme- 
diately to England. After several days spent 



DESTRUCTION OF THE TEA. 171 

in negotiations, the consignees still refused to 
return the tea, and, fearing the vengeance of an 
injured people, they retired to the castle. The 
owner of the ship which brought the tea w^as 
unable to obtain a pass for her sailing, as the 
officer was in the interest of the British minis- 
ters. Application was then made to the go- 
vernor, to order that a pass be given for the 
vessel ; but he declined interfering in the affair. 
When it was found no satisfactory arrangement 
could be effected, the meeting broke up ; but, 
late in the evening, a number of men, disguised 
as Mohawk Indians, proceeded to the vessels, 
then lying at the wharf, which had the tea on 
board, and in a short time every chest was 
taken out, and the contents thrown into the 
sea; but no injury w^as done to any other part 
of their cargoes. The inhabitants of the town, 
generally, had no knowledge of the event until 
the next day. It is supposed, the number of 
those concerned in the affair was about fifty ; 
but who they were has been only a matter of 
conjecture to the present day. 

This act of violence, which, in its effects, 
rapidly advanced the grand crisis, appears 
rather to have been the result of cool determi- 
nation, than of a sudden ebullition. The popu- 
lace appear to have been fully warned by their 
leaders as to the important consequences which 
would result from any destruction of the pro- 
perty of the East India Company. " One of 
the citizens, Josiah Quincy, equally distinguish- 
ed as a statesman and patriot,'' says Bradford^ 



172 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

*< addressed the meeting with unusual warmth 
and solemnity. He seemed deeply impressed 
with a sense of the serious consequences of 
their proceedings on this interesting occasion. 
The spirit then displayed, and the sentiments 
then avowed, he warned them, should be such 
as they would be ready to approve and main- 
tain at any future day. For, to retreat from 
the ground they should then take, would bring 
disgrace on themselves, and ruin on the coun- 
try." That Mr. Quincy did not overrate the 
importance of that memorable day was very 
apparent in the sequel. 



SPIRITED CONDUCT OF CAPTAIN 
WADSWORTH. 

Colonel Fletcher, Governor of New York 
had been vested with plenary powers to com- 
mand the militia of Connecticut, and insisted on 
the exercise of that command. The legislature 
of Connecticut, deeming that authority to be 
expressly given to the colony by charter, would 
not submit to his requisition ; but, desirous of 
maintaining a good understanding with Go- 
vernor Fletcher, endeavoured to make terms 
with him, until his majesty's pleasure should be 
further known. All their negotiations were, 
however, unsuccessful ; and, on the 26th of 
October, he came to Hartford, while the assem- 
bly was sitting, and, in his majesty's name, 



CONDUCT OF COLONEL WADSWORTH. 173 

demanded submission ; but the refusal was 
resolutely persisted in. After the requisition 
had been repeatedly made, with plausible 
explanations and serious menaces, Fletcher 
ordered his commission and instructions to be 
read in audience of the trainbands of Hartford, 
which had assembled upon his order. Captain 
Wadsworth, the senior officer, who was exer- 
cising his soldiers, instantly called out, " Beat 
the drums !'' which, in a moment, overwhelmed 
every voice. Fletcher commanded silence. No 
sooner was a second attempt made to read, than 
Wadsworth vociferated, '* Drum, drum ! I say." 
The drummers instantly beat up again, with 
the greatest possible spirit. " Silence, silence," 
exclaimed the governor. At the first moment 
of a pause, Wadsworth called out earnestly, 
''Drum, drum! I say !" and, turning to his 
excellency, said, " If I am interrupted again, I 
will make the sun shine through you in a mo- 
ment." Col. Fletcher decliiied putting Wads- 
worth to the test, and abandoning the contest, 
returned with his suite to New York. It has 
been already observed, that the history of the 
American colonies has been decidedly under- 
valued and neglected ; this must have been the 
case even with the best educated classes of 
society, or surely, after such specimens of deter- 
mined independence of spirit as the history of 
this colony, and of Massachusetts, exhibits, the 
measures which ultimately led to an entire 
separation would never have received the 
sanction of the British senate. 
15 * 



174 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 



GENERAL OGLETHORPE'S DEFENCE OF 
GEORGIA. 

As soon as intelligence of the declaration of 
war against Spain (23d of October, 1739,) 
reached Georgia, General Oglethorpe passed 
over to Florida with four hundred select men 
of his regiment, and a considerable party of 
Indians ; and a few days after, he marched with 
his whole force, consisting of above two thou- 
sand men, regulars, provincials, and Indians, to 
Fort Moosa, within two miles of St. Augustine. 
The Spanish garrison evacuating the fort on his 
approach, and retiring into the town, put them- 
selves in a posture of defence ; and the general, 
soon discovering that an attempt to take the 
castle by storm would be presumptuous, changed 
his plan of operations, and resolved, with the 
assistance of the ships of war which were lying 
at anchor off Augustine bar, to turn the siege 
into a blockade. Having made the necessary 
dispositions, he summoned the Spanish governor 
to a surrender ; but, secure in his stronghold, 
he sent him for answer, that he would be glad 
to shake hands with him in his castle. Indig- 
nant at this reply, the general opened his bat- 
teries against the castle, and at the same time 
threw a number of shells into the town. The fire 
was returned with equal spirit from the Spanish 
fort, and from six half-galleys in the harbour; 
but the distance was so great, that the cannon- 



Oglethorpe's defence of Georgia. 175 

ade, though it continued several days, did little 
execution on either side. It appears that, not- 
withstanding the blockade, the Spanish garrison 
contrived to admit a reinforcement of seven 
hundred men, and a large supply of provisions. 
All prospect of starving the enemy being lost, 
the army began to despair of forcing the place 
to surrender. The Carolina troops, enfeebled 
by the heat of the climate, dispirited by sick- 
ness, and fatigued by fruitless efforts, marched 
away in large bodies. The naval commander, 
in consideration of the shortness of his provi- 
sions, and of the near approach of the usual sea- 
son of hurricanes, judged it imprudent to hazard 
his fleet longer on that coast. The general 
himself was sick of a fever, and his regiment 
was worn out with fatigue, and disabled by 
sickness. These combined diasters rendered it 
necessary to abandon the enterprise ; and Ogle- 
thorpe, with extreme sorrow and regret, returned 
to Frederica. 

After a lapse of two years the Spaniards 
prepared to retaliate by the invasion of Georgia, 
intending, if successful, to subjugate the Garo- 
linas and Virginia. On receiving information 
of their approach. General Oglethorpe solicited 
assistance from South Carolina : but the inhabi- 
tants of that colony, entertaining a strong pre- 
judice against him, and terrified by the danger 
which threatened themselves, determined to 
provide only for their own safety, though with- 
out avowing their intention. General Ogle- 
thorpe, however, made preparations for a 



176 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

vigorous defence. He assembled seven hundred 
men, exclusive of a body of Indians, fixed his 
head-quarters at Frederica, on the island of 
St. Simon, and, with this small band, determined 
to encounter whatever force might be brought 
against him. It was his utmost hope that he 
might be able to resist the enemy until a rein- 
forcement should arrive from Carolina, which 
he daily and anxiously expected. On the last 
day of June, the Spanish fleet, consisting of 
thirty-two sail, and having on board more than 
three thousand men, came to anchor off St. 
Simon's Bay. Notwithstanding all the resist- 
ance which General Oglethorpe could oppose, 
they sailed up the river Alatamaha, landed upon 
the island, and there erected fortifications. 
Convinced that his small force, if divided, must 
be entirely inefficient, Oglethorpe assembled 
the whole of it at Frederica. One portion he 
employed in strengthening his fortifications ; 
the Highlanders and Indians, ranging night and 
day through the woods, often attacked the out- 
posts of the enemy. The toil of the troops was 
incessant ; and the long delay of the expected 
succours, still unexpectedly withheld by South 
Carolina, caused the most gloomy and depress- 
ing apprehensions. Oglethorpe, at length, learn- 
ing by an English prisoner who escaped from 
the Spanish camp, that a difference subsisted 
between the troops from Cuba and those from 
St. Augustine, so as to occasion a separate 
encampment, resolved to attack the enemy 
while thus divided. Taking advantage of his 



Oglethorpe's defence of Georgia. 177 

knowledge of the woods, he marched out in the 
night with three hundred chosen men, the 
Highland company and some rangers, with the 
intention of surprising the enemy. Having 
advanced within two miles of the Spanish camp, 
he halted his troops, and went forward himself 
with a select corps to reconnoitre the enemy's 
situation. While he was endeavouring cau- 
tiously to conceal his approach, a French soldier 
of his party discharged his musket, and ran 
into the Spanish lines. Thus betrayed, he has- 
tened his return to Frederica, and endeavoured 
to effect by stratagem what could not be 
achieved by surprise. Apprehensive that the 
deserter would discover to the enemy his weak- 
ness, he wrote to him a letter, desiring him to 
acquaint the Spaniards with the defenceless 
state of Frederica, and the ease with which his 
small garrison might be cut to pieces. He 
pressed him to bring forward the Spaniards to 
an attack ; but, if he could not prevail thus far, 
to use all his art and influence to persuade them 
to stay at least three days more at Fort Simon; 
for within that time, according to advices he 
had just received from Carolina, he should have 
a reinforcement of two thousand land forces, 
with six British ships of war. The letter con- 
cluded with a caution to the deserter against 
dropping the least hint of Admiral Vernon's 
meditated attack upon St. Auj^ustine, and with 
an assurance that for his service he should be 
amply rewarded by the British king. Ogle- 
thorpe gave it to a Spanish prisoner, who, for 



It8 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN IIISTORV. 

a small reward, together with his liberty, pro- 
mised to deliver it to the French deserter. On 
his arrival at the Spanish camp, however, he 
gave the letter, as Oglethorpe expected, to the 
commander-in-chief, who instantly put the 
deserter in irons. This letter perplexed and 
confounded the Spaniards ; some suspecting it 
to be a stratagem to prevent an attack on 
Frederica, and others believing it to contain 
serious instructions to direct the conduct of a 
spy. While the Spanish officers were delibe- 
rating what measures to adopt, an incident, not 
within the calculation of military skill, or the 
control of human power, decided their counsels. 
Three ships of force, which the governor of 
South Carolina had sent out to Oglethorpe's 
aid, appeared at this juncture off the coast. The 
agreement of this discovery with the contents 
of the letter convinced the Spanish commander 
of its real intention. The whole army, seized 
with an instant panic, set fire to the fort, and 
precipitately embarked, leaving several cannon, 
with a quantity of provisions and military 
stores; and thus, in the moment of threatened 
conquest, was the infant colony providentially 
saved. 

Thus was Georgia, with trifling loss, delivered 
from the most imminent danger. General Ogle- 
thorpe not only retrieved, but established his 
reputation. 



FRANK LILLY. 179 



FRANK LILLY, 



Jonathan Riley was a seri^eant in the 



regiment, had served under Gen. Amherst in 
the old French war, and was with the provin- 
cials at the taking of Havana. This man was 
often selected for dangerous and trying situa- 
tions ; and his uniform courage and presence of 
mind insured him success. He was at length 
placed on a recruiting station, and in a short 
period enlisted a great number of men. Among 
his recruits was Frank Lilly, a boy about 16 
years of age, a weak and puny lad, who would 
not, perhaps, have passed muster, were we not 
greatly in want of men. The soldiers made 
this boy the butt of their ridicule, and many a 
sorry joke w^as uttered at his expense. They 
told him to swear his legs, in other words to get 
them insured. Yet there was something about 
him interesting, and at times he discovered a 
spirit beyond his years. To this boy, for some 
unknown cause, Riley became greatly attached, 
and seemed to pity him from the bottom of his 
heart. Often on our long and fatiguing marches, 
dying almost from want, harassed incessantly 
by the enemy, did Riley carry the boy's knap- 
sack for miles, and many a crust for the poor 
wretch was saved from his scanty allowance. 
But Frank Lilly's resolution w^as once the cause 
of saving the whole detachment. The Ameri- 
can army was encamped at Elizabethtown, The 



180 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 

soldiers stationed about four miles from the 
main body, near the bay that separated the 
continent from Staten Island, forming an ad- 
vance picket guard, were chosen from a south- 
ern regiment, and were continually deserting. 
It was a post of some danger, as the young am- 
bitious British officers, or experienced sergeants, 
often headed parties that approached the shore 
in silence, during the night, and attacked our 
outposts. Once they succeeded in surprising 
and capturing an officer and twenty men, with- 
out the loss of a man on their part. General 
Washington determined to relieve the forces 
near the bay, and our regiment was the one 
from which the selection was made. The ar- 
rangement of our guard, as near as I can recol- 
lect, was as follows : 

A body of 250 men were stationed a short 
distance inland. In advance of these were seve- 
ral outposts, consisting of an officer and thirty 
men each. The sentinels were so near as to 
meet in their rounds, and were relieved in every 
two hours. — It chanced, one dark and windy 
night, that Lilly and myself were sentinels on 
adjoining posts. All the sentinels were directed 
to fire on the least alarm, and retreat to the 
guard, where we were to make the best defence 
we could, until supported by the detachment 
in our rear. In front of me was a strip of 
woods, and the bay was so near that I could 
hear the dashing of the waves. It was near 
midnight, and occasionally a star to be seen 
through the flying clouds. The hours passed 



FRANK LILLY. 18 1 

heavily and cheerlessly away. The wind at 
times roared through the adjoining woods with 
astonishing violence. In a pause of the storm, 
as the wind died suddenly away, and was heard 
only moaning at a dis»iance, I was startled by 
an unusual noise in the woods before me. Again 
I listened attentively, and imagined that I heard 
the heavy tread of a body of men, and the rat- 
tling of cartridge-boxes. As I met Lilly, I in- 
formed him of my suspicions. All had been 
quiet in the rounds, but he would keep a good 
watch, and fire on the least alarm. We sepa- 
rated, and I had marched but a few rods, when 
I heard the following conversation. *' Stand." 
The answer was from a speaker rapidly ap- 
proaching, and in a low, constrained voice. 
"Stand yourself, and you shall not be injured. 
If you fire, you are a dead man. If you re- 
main where you are, you shall not be harmed. 
If you move, I will run you through." 

Scarcely had he spoken, when I saw the flash, 
and heard the report of Lilly's gun. I saw a 
black mass rapidly advancing, at which I fired, 
and with all the sentinels retreated to the guard, 
consisting of thirty men, commanded by an 
ensign. An old barn had served them for a 
guard-house, and they barely had time to turn 
out, and parade in the road, as the British were 
getting over a fence within six rods of us, to the 
number of eighty, as we supposed. We fired 
upon them, and retreated in good order towards 
the detachment in the rear. The enemy, disap- 
pointed of their expected prey, pushed us hard, 
16 



182 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

but we were soon reinforced, and they in their 
turn were compelled to retreat, and we followed 
them at their heels to the boats. We found the 
next morning that poor Frank Lilly, after dis- 
charging his musket, was followed so close by 
the enemy that he was unable to get over a 
fence, and he w^as run through with a bayonet. 
It was apparent, however, that there had been 
a violent struggle. But in front of his post was 
a British non-commissioned officer, one of the 
best formed men I ever saw, shot directly 
through the body. He died in great agonies, 
as the ground was torn up with his hands, and 
he had literally bitten the dust. We discovered 
long traces of blood, but never knew he extent. 
of the enemy's loss. Poor Riley toe a Lilly's 
death so much to heart that he never afterwards 
was the man he previously had been. He be- 
came indifferent, and neglected his duty. There 
was something remarkable in the manner of his 
death. He was tried for his life, and sentenced 
to be shot. During the trial, and subsequently, 
he discovered an indifference truly astonishing. 
On the day of his execution, the fatal cap was 
drawn over his eyes, and he was caused to kneel 
in front of the whole army. Twelve men were 
detailed for the purpose of executing him, but 
a pardon had been granted, unknown to Riley, 
in consequence of his age and services ; they 
had no cartridges. The word " ready," was 
given, and the cocking of guns could be dis- 
tinctly heard. At the word *' fire," Riley fell 



CAPTURE OF QUEBEC. 183 

dead upon his face, when not a gun had been 
discharged. 

It was said that Frank Lilly was the fruit of 
one of Riley's old love affairs with a beautiful 
and unfortunate girl. There was a sad story 
concerning her fate ; but I am old now, and 
have forgotten it. 



CAPTURE OF QUEBEC. 

The expedition against the capital of Canada 
was the most daring and important. Strong 
by nature, and still stronger by art, Quebec 
had obtained the appellation of the Gibraltar 
of America ; and every attempt against it had 
failed. It was now commanded by Montcalm, 
an officer of distinguished reputation; and its 
capture must hav 3 appeared chimerical to any 
one but Pitt. He judged rightly, however, 
that the boldest and most dangerous enterprises 
are often the most successful, especially when 
committed to ardent minds, glowing with en- 
thusiasm, and emulous of glory. Such a mind 
he had discovered in General Wolfe, whose 
conduct at Louisbourg had attracted his atten- 
tion. He appointed him to conduct the expedi- 
tion, and gave him for assistants Brigadier 
Generals Moncton, Townshend, and Murray; 
all, like himself, young and ardent. Early in 



184 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

the season he sailed from Halifax with eight 
thousand troops, and, near the last of June, 
landed the whole army on the island of Orleans, 
a few miles below Quebec. From this position 
he could take a near and distinct view of the 
obstacles to be overcome. These were so 
great, that even the bold and sanguine Wolfe 
perceived more to fear than to hope. In a let- 
ter to Mr. Pitt, written before commencing 
operations, he declared that he saw but little 
prospect of reducing the place. 

Quebec stands on the north side of the St. 
Lawrence, and consists of an upper and lower 
town. The lower town lies between the river 
and a bold and lofty eminence, which runs 
parallel to it far to the westward. At the top 
of this eminence is a plain, upon which the 
upper town is situated. Below, or east of the 
city, is the river St. Charles, whose channel is 
rough, and whose banks are steep and broken. 
At a short distance farther down is the Mont- 
morency ; and between these two rivers, and 
reaching from one to the other, was encamped 
the French army, strongly entrenched, and at 
least equal in number to that of the English. Gene- 
ral Wolfe took possession of Point Levi, on the 
southern bank of the St. Lawrence, and there 
erected batteries against the tow^n. The can- 
nonade which was kept up, though it destroyed 
many houses, made but little impression on the 
works, which were too strong and too remote 
to be materially affected ; their elevation, at 
the same time, placing them beyond the reach 



CAPTURE OF QUEBEC. 185 

of the flert. Convinced of the impossibility 
of reducing the place, unless he could erect 
batteries on the north side of the St. Lawrence, 
Wolfe soon decided on more daring measures. 
The northern shore of the St. Lawrence, to a 
considerable distance above Quebec, is so bold 
and rocky as to render a landing in the face 
of an enemy impracticable. If an attempt 
were made below the town, the river Mont- 
morency passed, and the French driven from 
their entrenchments, the St. Charles would 
present a new, and perhaps an insuperable 
barrier. With every obstacle fully in view, 
Wolfe, heroically observing that " a victorious 
army finds no difficulties," resolved to pass the 
Montmorency, and bring Montcalm to an en- 
gagement. In pursuance of this resolution, 
thirteen companies of English grenadiers, and 
part of the second battalion of royal Americans, 
were landed at the mouth of that river, while 
two divisions, under Generals Townshend and 
Murray, prepared to cross it higher up. Wolfe's 
plan was to attack first a redoubt, close to the 
water's edge, apparently beyond reach of the 
fire from the enemy's entrenchments, in the 
belief that the French, by attempting to sup- 
port that fortification, would put it in his power 
to bring on a general engagement ; or, if they 
should submit to the loss of the redoubt, that 
he could afterwards examine their situation 
with coolness, and advantageously regulate his 
future operations. On the approach of the 
British troops the redoubt was evacuated ; and 
16* 



186 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

the general, observing some confusion in the 
French camp, changed his original plan, and 
determined not to delay an attack. Orders 
were immediately despatched to the Generals 
Townshend and Murray to keep their divisions 
in readiness for fording the river; and the 
grenadiers and royal Americans were directed 
to form on the beach until they could be pro- 
perly sustained. These troops, however, not 
waiting for support, rushed impetuously toward 
the enemy's entrenchments ; but they were 
received with so strong and steady a fire from 
the French musketry, that they were instantly 
thrown into disorder, and obliged to seek shel- 
ter at the redoubt which the enemy had aban- 
doned. Detained here awhile by a dreadful 
thunder storm, they were still within reach of 
a severe fire from the French ; and many gallant 
officers, exposing their persons in attempting to 
forin the troops, were killed, the whole loss 
amounting to nearly five hundred men. The 
plan of attack being effectually disconcerted, 
the English general gave orders for repassing 
the river, and returning to the isle of Orleans. 

Compelled to abandon the attack on that 
side, Wolfe deemed that advantage might result 
from attempting to destroy the French fleet, 
and by distracting the attention of Montcalm 
with continual descents upon the northern 
shore. General Murray, with twelve hundred 
men in transports, made two vigorous but 
abortive attempts to land; and though more 
successful in the third, he did nothing more 



CAPTURE OF QUEBEC. IS7 

than burn a magazine of warlike stores. The 
enemy's fleet was effectually secured against 
attacks, either by land or by water, and the 
commander-in-chief was again obliged to sub- 
mit to the mortification of recalling his troops. 
At this juncture, intelligence arrived that 
Niagara was taken, that Ticonderoga and 
Crown Point had been abandoned, but that 
General Amherst, instead of pressing forward 
to their assistance, was preparing to attack the 
Isle-aux-Nois. While Wolfe rejoiced at the 
triumph of his brethren in arms, he could not 
avoid contrasting their success with his own 
disastrous efforts. His mind, alike lofty and 
susceptible, was deeply impressed by the dis- 
asters at Montmorency; and his extreme anxie- 
ty, preying upon his delicate frame, sensibly 
affected his health. He was observed frequently 
to sigh; and, as if life was only valuable while 
it added to his glory, he declared to his intimate 
friends, that he would not survive the disgrace 
which he imagined would attend the failure of 
his enterprise. Nothing, however, could shake 
the resolution of this valiant commander, or 
induce him to abandon the attempt. In a 
council of his principal officers, called on this 
critical occasion, it was resolved that all the 
future operations should be above the town. 
The camp at the Isle of Orleans was accord- 
ingly abandoned ; and the whole army having 
embarked on board the fleet, a part of it was 
landed at Point Levi, and a part higher up the 
river. Montcalm, apprehending from this 



188 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

movement that the invaders might make a dis- 
tant descent and come on the back of the city 
of Quebec, detached M. de Bougainville with 
fifteen hundred men, to watch their motions, 
and prevent their landing. 

Baffled and harassed in all his previous as- 
saults, General Wolfe seems to have determined 
to finish the enterprise by a single bold and 
desperate effort. The admiral sailed several 
leagues up the river, making occasional demon- 
strations of R design to land troops ; and, during 
the night, a strong detachment in flat-bottomed 
boats fell silently down with the stream, to a 
point about a mile above the city. The beach 
was shelving, the bank high and precipitous, 
and the only path by which it could be scaled 
was now defended by a captain's guard and a 
battery of four guns. Colonel Howe, with the 
van, soon clambered up the rocks, drove away 
the guard, and seized upon the battery. The 
army landed about an hour before day, and by 
daybreak was marshalled on the heights of 
Abraham. 

Montcalm could not at first believe the intel- 
ligence ; but, as soon as he was assured of its 
truth, he made all prudent haste to decide a 
battle which it was no longer possible to avoid. 
Leaving his camp at Montmorency, he crossed 
the river St. Charles, with the intention of at- 
tacking the English army. No sooner did 
Wolfe observe this movement, than he began 
to form his order of battle. His troops con- 
sisted of six battalions, and the Louisbourg 



CAPTURE OF QUEBEC. 189 

grenadiers. The right wing was commanded 
by General Monckton, and the left by General 
Murray. The right flank was covered by the 
Louisbourg grenadiers, and the rear and left 
by Howe's light infantry. The form in which 
the French advanced indicating an intention to 
outflank the left of the English army, General 
Townshend was sent with the battalion of 
Amherst, and the two battalions of royal 
Americans, to that part of the line, and they 
were formed en potence, so as to present a 
double front to the enemy. The body of re- 
serve consisted of one regiment, drawn up in 
eight divisions, with large intervals. The dis- 
positions made by the French general were not 
less masterly. The right and left wings were 
composed about equally of European and colo- 
nial troops. The centre consisted of a column, 
formed of two battalions of regulars. Fifteen 
hundred Indians and Canadians, excellent 
marksmen, advancing in front, screened by 
surrounding thickets, began the battle. Their 
irregular fire proved fatal to many British ofli- 
cers, but it was soon silenced by the steady 
fire of the English. About nine in the morning 
the main body of the French advanced briskly 
to the charge, and the action soon became 
general. Montcalm having taken post on the 
left of the French army, and Wolfe on the right 
of the English, the two generals met each other 
where the battle was most severe. The Eng- 
lish troops reserved their fire until the French 
had advanced within forty yards of their line. 



190 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

and then, by a general discharge, made terrible 
havoc among their ranks. The fire of the 
English was vigorously maintained, and the 
enemy everywhere yielded to it. General 
Wolfe, who, exposed in the front of his bat- 
talions, had been wounded in the wrist, betray- 
ing no symptom of pain, wrapped a handker- 
chief round his arm, and continued to encourage 
his men. Soon after, he received a shot in the 
groin ; but, concealing the wound, he was 
pressing on at the head of his grenadiers, with 
fixed bayonets, when a third ball pierced his 
breast. The army, not disconcerted by his 
fall, continued the action under Monckton, on 
whom the command now devolved, but who, 
receiving a ball through his body, soon yielded 
the command to General Tovvnshend. Mont- 
calm, fighting in front of his battalions, received 
a mortal wound about the same time; and Gene- 
ral Senezergus, the second in command, also 
fell. The British grenadiers pressed on with 
their bayonets. General Murray, briskly ad- 
vancing with the troops under his direction, 
broke the centre of the French army. The 
Highlanders, drawing their broadswords, com- 
pleted the confusion of the enemy; and after 
having lost their first and second in command, 
the right and centre of the French were en- 
tirely driven from the field ; and the left was 
following the example, when Bougainville ap- 
peared in the rear, with the fifteen hundred 
men who had been sent to oppose the landing 
of the English, Two battalions and two pieces 



CAPTURE OF QUEBEC. 191 

of artillery were detached to meet him ; but he 
retired, and the British troops were left the 
undisputed masters of the field. The loss of 
the French was much greater than that of the 
English. The corps of French regulars was 
almost entirely annihilated. The killed and 
wounded of the English army did not amount 
to six hundred men. Although Quebec was 
still strongly defended by its fortifications, and 
might possibly be relieved by Bougainville, or 
from ^lontreal, yet General Townshend had 
scarcely finished a road in the bank to get up 
his heavy artillery for a siege, when the in- 
habitants capitulated, on condition that during 
the war they might still enjoy their own civil 
and religious rights. A garrison of five thou- 
sand men was left under General Murray, and 
the fleet sailed out of the St. Lawrence. 



LAFAYETTE, 



Lafayette was born a subject of the most 
absolute and most splendid monarchy in Eu- 
rope, and in the highest rank of her proud and 
chivalrous nobility. He had been educated at 
a college of the University of Paris, founded 
by the royal munificenco of Louis XIV., or of 
his minister. Cardinal Richelieu. Left an or- 
phan in early childhood, with the inheritance 
of a princely fortune, he had been married, at 



192 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

sixteen years of age, to a daughter of the house 
of Noailles, the most distinguished family of the 
kingdom, scarcely deemed in public considera- 
tion inferior to that which wore the crown. He 
came into active life, at the change from boy to 
man, a husband and a father, in the full enjoy- 
ment of everything that avarice could covet, 
with a certain prospect before him of all that 
ambition could crave. Happy in his domestic 
affections, incapable, from the benignity of his 
nature, of envy, hatred, or revenge, a life of 
" ignoble ease and indolent repose" seemed to 
be that which nature and fortune had combined 
to prepare before him. To men of ordinary 
mould this condition would have led to a life of 
luxurious apathy and sensual indulgence. Such 
was the life into which, from the operation of 
the same causes, Louis XV. had sunk, with his 
household and court, while Lafayette was rising 
to manhood, surrounded by the contamination 
of their example. Had his natural endowments 
been even of the higher and nobler order of 
such as adhere to virtue, even in the lap of pros- 
perity, and in the bosom of temptation, he might 
have lived and died a pattern of the nobility of 
France, to be classed, in aftertimes, with the 
Turennes and the Montausiers of the age of 
Louis XIV., or with the Villars or the Lamoign- 
ons of the age immediately preceding his own. 

But as, in the firmament of heaven that rolls 
over our heads, there is, among the stars of the 
first magnitude, one so pre-eminent in splendour, 
as, in the opinion of astronomers, to constitute 



LAFAYETTE. 193 

a class by itself; so, in the fourteen hundred 
years of the French monarchy, among the mul- 
titudes of great and mighty men which it has 
evolved, the name of Lafayette stands unrival- 
led in the solitude of glory. 

In entering upon the threshold of life, a ca- 
reer was open before him. He had the option 
of the court and the camp. An office was ten- 
dered to him in the household of the king's bro- 
ther, the Count de Provence, since successively 
a royal exile and a reinstated king. The ser- 
vitude and inaction of a court had no charms 
for him ; he preferred a commission in the army, 
and, at the time of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, was a captain of dragoons in garri- 
son at Metz. 

There, at an entertainment given by his rela- 
tive, the Marechal de Broglie, the commandant 
of the place, to the Duke of Gloucester, bro- 
ther to the British King, and then a transient 
traveller through that part of France, he learns, 
as an incident of intelligence received that 
morning by the English Prince from London, 
that the Congress of Rebels, at Philadelphia, 
had issued a Declaration of Independence. A 
conversation ensues upon the causes which have 
contributed to produce this event, and upon the 
consequences which may be expected to flow 
from it. The imagination of Lafayette has 
caught across the Atlantic tide the spark emit- 
ted from the Declaration of Independence ; his 
heart has kindled at the shock, and, before he 
17 



194 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

slumbers upon his pillow, he has resolved to 
devote his life and fortune to the cause. 

You have before you the cause and the man. 
The self-devotion of Lafayette was two-fold. 
First, to the people, maintaining a bold and 
seemingly desperate struggle against oppression, 
and for national existence. Secondly, and 
chiefly, to the principles of their Declaration, 
which then first unfurled before his eyes the 
consecrated standard of human rights. To that 
standard, without an instant of hesitation, he 
repaired. Where it would lead him, it is scarcely 
probable that he himself then foresaw. It was 
then identical with the stars and stripes of the 
American Union, floating to the breeze from the 
Hall of Independence, at Philadelphia. Nor 
sordid avarice, nor vulgar ambition, could point 
his footsteps to the pathway leading to that ban- 
ner. To the love of ease or pleasure nothing 
could be more repulsive. Something may be 
allowed to the beatings of the youthful breast, 
which make ambition virtue, and something to 
the spirit of military adventure, imbibed from 
his profession, and which he felt in common 
with many others. France, Germany, Poland, 
furnished to the armies of this Union, in our 
revolution struggle, no inconsiderable number 
of officers of hi«jh rank and distinguished merit. 
The names of Pulaski and De Kalb are num- 
bered among the martyrs of our freedom, and 
their ashes repose in our soil side by side with 
the canonized bones of Warren and of Mont- 
gomery. To the virtues of Lafayette, a more 



LAFAYETTE. 195 

protracted career and happier earthly destinies 
were reserved. To the moral principle of po- 
litical action, the sacrifices of no other man 
were comparable to his. Youth, health, for- 
tune ; the favour of his. king ; the enjoyment of 
ease and pleasure; even the choicest blessings 
of domestic felicity — he gave them all for toil 
and danger in a distant land, and an almost 
hopeless cause ; but it was the cause of justice, 
and of the rights of human kind. 

The resolve is firmly fixed, and it now re- 
mains to be carried into execution. On the 7th 
of December, 177G, Silas Deane, then a secret 
agent of the American Congress at Paris, stip- 
ulates with the Marquis de Lafayette that he 
shall receive a commission, to date from that 
day, of Major-General in the army of the Uni- 
ted States ; and the Marquis stipulates, in re- 
turn, to depart when and how Mr. Deane shall 
judge proper, to serve the United States with 
all possible zeal, without payor emolument, re- 
serving to himself only the liberty of returning 
to Europe if his family or his king should recall 
him. 

Neither his family nor his king were willing 
that he should depart; nor had Mr. Deane the 
power, either to conclude this contract, or to 
furnish the means of his conveyance to Ameri- 
ca. Difficulties rise up before him only to be 
dispersed, and obstacles thicken only to be sur- 
mounted. The day after the signature of the 
contract, Mr. Deane's agency was superseded 
by the arrival of Doctor Benjamin Franklin and 



196 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

Arthur Lee as his colleagues in commission; 
nor did they think themselves authorized to con- 
firm his engagements. Lafayette is not to be 
discouraged. The commissioners extenuate 
nothing of the unpromising condition of their 
cause. Mr. Deane avows his inability to fur- 
nish him with a passage to the United States. 
" The more desperate the cause," says Lafay- 
ette, " the greater need has it of my services ; 
and, if Mr. Deane has no vessel for my passage, 
I shall purchase one myself, and will traverse 
the ocean with a selected company of my own." 

Other impediments arise. His design be- 
comes known to the British Ambassador at the 
Court of Versailles, who remonstrates to the 
French government against it. At his instance, 
orders are issued for the detention of the ves- 
sel purchased by the Marquis, and fitted out at 
Bordeaux, and for the arrest of his person. To 
elude the first of these orders, the vessel is re- 
moved from Bordeaux to the neighbouring port 
of Passage, within the dominion of Spain. The 
order for his own arrest is executed ; but, by 
stratagem and disguise, he escapes from the cus- 
tody of those who have him in charge, and, be- 
fore a second order can reach him, he is safe on 
the ocean wave, bound to the land of Independ- 
ence and of Freedom. 

It had been necessary to clear out the vessel 
for an island of the West Indies; but, once at 
sea, he avails himself of his right as owner of 
the ship, and compels his captain to steer for 
the shores of emancipated North iVmerica. He 



WASHINGTON COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 197 

lands, with his companions, on the 25th of April, 
1777, in South Carolina, not far from Charles- 
ton, and finds a most cordial reception and hos- 
pitable welcome in the house of Major Huger. 



WASHINGTON APPOINTED COMMANDER- 
IN-CHIEF. 

On the 15th of June, 1775, Congress pro- 
ceeded to choose, by ballot, a commander-in- 
chief of the provincial or continental forces, and 
unanimously elected George Washington to 
that arduous office. That gentleman afterwards 
acted such a distinguished part in the war, and 
acquired such an illustrious name, that it is 
proper to glance at his personal history previ- 
ous to the period under consideration. He was 
the third son of Augustus Washington, and was 
born in Virginia, in the year 1732. By the 
death of his elder brothers, he succeeded to the 
patrimonial estate, at an early age ; was major 
of militia, and was appointed by the governor 
of Virginia to negotiate with the French go- 
vernor of Fort Du Quesne, concerning the 
boundaries of the French and British govern- 
ments. He became soon afterwards lieutenant- 
colonel of a regiment of militia, which the 
colony raised for the defence of its frontier. In 
a short time he succeeded to the command of 
the regiment ; and was present, as a volunteer, 
17* 



198 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

in General Braddock's unfortunate expedition 
in 1755. Such was the confidence placed in 
his talents, that on that occasion the retreat 
was conducted under his direction. He was 
afterwards engaged in another expedition to 
the Ohio ; and in the year 1758, on account of 
ill health, he resigned his commission, and lived 
in retirement and rural tranquillity. 

From this outline of his personal history, it 
is obvious that his experience in military affairs 
was extremely limited. But he was known to 
be a man of sound understanding, undaunted 
courage, and inflexible integrity. He enjoyed, 
in a high degree, the confidence of his country- 
men, and had been chosen one of the deputies 
to Congress for his native province of Virginia. 
He had used neither solicitation nor influence 
of any kind to procure the appointment; and 
when the president informed him of his election, 
and of the request of Congress that he would 
accept tlie office, he stood up in his place, and 
addressed the president in the following terms : 
" Though 1 am truly sensible of the high 
honour done me by this appointment, yet I feel 
great distress from a consciousness that my 
abilities and military experience are not equal 
to the arduous trust. But, as the Congress 
desire it, I will enter on the momentous duty, 
and exert every power I possess in their ser- 
vice, and for the support of the glorious cause. 
I beg they will accept my cordial thanks for 
this high testimony of their approbation." He 
besought Congress to remember that he thought 



THE TRIPOLITAN WAR. 199 

himself unequal to the command with which 
they had honoured him; that lie expected no 
emolument from it, but that he would keep an 
exact account of his expenses, and hoped they 
would reimburse him. 



THE TRIPOLITAN WAR. 

The United States had for some time enjoyed 
the undisputed repose of peace, with only one 
exception. Tripoli, the least considerable of 
the Barbary states, had made demands, founded 
neither in right nor in compact, and had de- 
nounced war on the failure of the American 
government to comply with them before a given 
day. The president, on this occasion, sent a 
small squadron of frigates into the Mediterra- 
nean, with assurances to that power of the 
sincere desire of the American government to 
remain in peace ; but with orders to protect 
our commerce against the threatened attack. 
It was a seasonable and salutary measure ; for 
the bey had already declared war; and the 
American commerce in the Mediterranean was 
blockaded, while that of the Atlantic was in 
peril. The arrival of the squadron dispelled 
the danger. The Insurgente, which had been 
so honourably added to the American navy, and 
the Pickering, of fourteen guns, the former com- 
manded by Captain Fletcher, the latter by 



200 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

Captain Hillar, were lost in the equinoctial 
gale, in September, 1800. In 1801, the Enter- 
prise, of fourteen guns. Captain Sterrett, fell in 
with a Tripolitan ship of war of equal force. 
The action continued three hours and a half, 
the corsair fighting with great obstinacy, and 
even desperation, until she struck, having lost 
fifty killed and wounded, while the Enterprise 
had not a man injured. In 1803, Commodore 
Preble assumed the command of the Mediter- 
ranean squadron, and, after humbling the Em- 
peror of Morocco, who had begun a covert war 
upon American commerce, concentrated most 
of his force before Tripoli. On arriving off that 
port, Captain Bainbridge, in the frigate Phila- 
delphia, of forty-four guns, was sent into the 
harbour to reconnoitre. While in eager pur- 
suit of a small vessel, he unfortunately advanced 
so far that the frigate grounded, and all attempts 
to remove her were in vain. The sea around 
her was immediately covered with Tripolitan 
gunboats, and Captain Bainbridge was com- 
pelled to surrender. This misfortune, which 
threw a number of accomplished officers and a 
valiant crew into oppressive bondage, and which 
shed a gloom over the whole nation, as it seemed 
at once to increase the difficulties of a peace an 
hundred fold, was soon relieved by one of the 
most daring and chivalrous exploits that is 
found in naval annals. Lieutenant Stephen 
Decatur, then one of Commodore Preble's sub- 
alterns, proposed a plan for recapturing or 
destroying the Philadelphia. The American 



THE TRIPOLITAN WAR. 201 

squadron was at that time lying at Syracuse. 
Agreeably to the plan proposed, Lieutenant 
Decatur, in the ketch Intrepid, four guns and 
seventy-five men, proceeded, under the escort 
of the Syren, Captain Stewart, to the harbour 
of Tripoli. The Philadelphia lay within half 
gun-shot of the bashaw's castle, and several 
ciuisers and gunboats surrounded her with 
jealous vigilance. The Intrepid entered the 
harbour alone, about eight o'clock in the evening, 
and succeeded in getting near the Philadelphia, 
between ten and eleven o'clock, without having 
awakened suspicion of her hostile designs. This 
vessel had been captured from the Tripolitans, 
and, assuming on this occasion her former 
national appearance, was permitted to warp 
alongside, under the alleged pretence that she 
had lost all her anchors. The moment the 
vessel came in contact, Decatur and his follow- 
ers leaped on board, and soon overwhelmed a 
crew which was paralysed with consternation. 
Twenty of the Tripolitans were killed. All the 
surrounding batteries being opened upon the 
Philadelphia, she was immediately set on fire, 
and not abandoned until thoroughly wrapped 
in flames ; when, a favouring breeze springing 
up, the Intrepid extricated herself from her 
prey, and sailed triumphantly out of the har- 
bour amid the light of the conflagration. Not 
the slightest loss occurred on the side of the 
Americans, to shade the splendour of the 
enterprise. 



202 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 



BOMBARDMENT OF TRIPOLI. 

In July, 1804, Commodore Preble brought 
together all his forces before Tripoli, deter- 
mined to try the effect of a bombardment. The 
enemy having sent some of his gunboats and 
galleys without the reef, at the mouth of the 
harbour, two divisions of American gunboats 
were formed for the purpose of attacking them, 
while the large vessels assailed the batteries 
and town. On the 3d of August this plan was 
put in execution. The squadron approached 
within gun-shot of the town, and opened a tre- 
mendous fire of shot and shells, which was as 
promptly returned by the Tripolitan batteries 
and shipping. At the same time the two divi- 
sions of gunboats, the first under the command 
of Captain Somers, the second under Captain 
Stephen Decatur, who had been promoted as a 
reward for his late achievement, advanced 
against those of the enemy. The squadron was 
about two hours under the enemy's batteries, 
generally within pistol-shot, ranging by them 
in deliberate succession, alternately silencing 
their fires, and launching its thunders into 
the very palace of the bashaw ; while a more 
animated battle was raging in another quarter. 
Simultaneously Vv'ith the bombardment, the 
American gunboats had closed in desperate 
conflict with the enemy. Captain Decatur, 
bearing down upon one of superior force, soon 
carried her by boarding, when, taking his prize 



BOMBARDMENT OF TRIPOLI, 203 

in tow, he grappled with another, and in like 
manner, transferred the fight to the enemy's 
deck. In the fierce encounter which followed 
this second attack. Captain Decatur, having 
broken his sword, closed with the Turkish com- 
mander, and, both falling in the struggle, gave 
him a mortal wound with a pistol-shot, just as 
the Turk was raising his dirk to plunge it into 
his breast. Lieutenant Trippe, of Captain 
Decatur's squadron, had boarded a third large 
gunboat, with only one midshipman and nine 
men, when his boat fell oflT, and left him to wage 
the unequal fight of eleven to thirty-six, which 
was the number of the enemy. Courage and 
resolution, however, converted this devoted 
little band into a formidable host, which, after 
a sanguinary contest, obliged the numerous foe 
to yield, with the loss of fourteen killed and 
seven wounded. Lieutenant Trippe received 
eleven sabre wounds, and had three of his party 
wounded, but none killed. Several bombard- 
ments and attacks succeeded each other at 
intervals throughout the month. Day after day 
death and devastation were poured into Tripoli 
with unsparing perseverance, each attack exhi- 
biting instances of valour and devotedness which 
will give lustre to history. The eyes of Europe 
were drawn to the spot where a young nation, 
scarcely emerged into notice, was signally 
chastising the despotic and lawless infidel, to 
whom some of her most powerful governm.ents 
were then paying tribute. 



204 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 



DESTRUCTION OF THE INTREPID. 

On the 4th of September, 1804, Commodore 
Preble, in order to try new experiments of 
annoyance, determined to send a fireship into 
the enemy's harbour. The Intrepid was fitted 
out for this service, being filled with powder, 
shells, and other combustible materials. Cap- 
tain Somers, who had often been the emulous 
rival of Decatur in the career of glory, was 
appointed to conduct her in, having for his 
associates in the hazardous enterprise. Lieu- 
tenants Wadsworth and Israel, all volunteers. 
The Argus, Vixen, and Nautilus, were to con- 
vey the Intrepid as far as the mouth of the 
harbour. Captain Somers and Lieutenant 
Wadsworth made choice of two of the fleetest 
boats in the squadron, manned with picked 
crews, to bring them out. At eight o'clock in 
the evening she stood into the harbour with a 
moderate breeze. Several shot were fired at 
her from the batteries. She had nearly gained 
her place of destination when she exploded, 
without having made any of the signals previ- 
ously concerted to show that the crew Vv'as safe. 
Night hung over the dreadful catastrophe, and 
left the whole squadron a prey to the most 
painful anxiety. The convoy hovered about 
the harbour until sunrise, when no remains 
could be discovered either of the Intrepid or her 
boats. Doubt was turned into certainty, that 
she had prematurely blown up, as one of the 



V^oTHLCTION OF THE INTREPID. 205 

enemy's gunboats was observed to be missing, 
and several others much shattered and damaged. 
Commodore Preble, in his account, says, that 
he was led to believe " that those boats were 
detached from the enemy's flotilla to intercept 
the ketch, and without suspecting her to be a 
fireship, the missing boats had suddenly boarded 
her, when the gallant Somers and the heroes 
of his party, observing the other three boats sur- 
rounding them, and no prospect of escape, 
determined at once to prefer death, and the 
destruction of the enemy, to captivity and tor- 
turing slavery, put a match to the train leading 
directly to the magazine, which at once blew 
the whole into the air, and terminated their 
existence ;" and he adds, that his " conjectures 
respecting this aflfair are founded on a resolu- 
tion which Captain Somers and Lieutenants 
Wadsworth and Israel had formed, neither to 
be taken by ihe enemy, nor suffer him to get 
possession of the powder on board the Intrepid." 
Soon after these events. Commodore Preble gave 
up the command in the Mediterranean to Com- 
modore Barron, and returned to the United 
States. His eminent services were enthusiasti- 
cally acknowledged by his admiring fellow- 
citizens, as well as those of his associates in 
arms, " w^hose names," in the expressive lan- 
guage of Congress on the occasion, " ought to 
live in the recollection and affection of a grateful 
country, and whose conduct ought to be 
regarded as an example to future generations." 
18 



206 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 



ROMANTIC EXPEDITION OF GENERAL EATON. 

While the squadron remained before Tripoli, 
other deeds of heroism were performed. Wil- 
liam Eaton, who had been a captain in the 
American army, was, at the commencement of 
this war, consul at Tunis. He there became 
acquainted with Hamet Caramauly, whom a 
younger brother had excluded from the throne 
of Tripoli. With him he concerted an expedi- 
tion against the reigning sovereign, and repaired 
to the United States to obtain permission and 
the means to undertake it. Permission was 
granted, the co-operation of the squadron re- 
commended, and such pecuniary assistance as 
could be spared was afforded. To raise an 
army in Egypt, and lead it to attack the usurper 
in his dominions, was the project which had 
been concerted. In the beginning of 1805, 
Eaton met Hamet at Alexandria, and was 
appointed general of his forces. On the 6th of 
March, at the head of a respectable body of 
mounted Arabs, and about seventy Christians, 
he set out for Tripoli. His route lay across a 
desert one thousand miles in extent. On his 
march, he encountered peril, fatigue, and suffer- 
ing, the description of which would resemble 
the exaggerations of romance. On the 25th of 
April, having been fifty days on the march, he 
arrived before Derne, a Tripolitan city on the 
Mediterranean, and found in the harbour a part 
of the American squadron destined to assist 
him. He learnt also that the usurper, having 



EXPEDITION OF EATON. 207 

received notice of his approach, had raised a 
considerable army, and was then within a day's 
march of the city. No time was therefore to 
be lost. The next morning he summoned the 
governor to surrender, who returned for answer, 
*' My head or yours." The city was assaulted, 
and after a contest of two hours and a half, 
possession was gained. The Christians suffered 
severely, and the general was slightly wounded. 
Great exertions were immediately made to 
fortify the city. On the 8th of May it was 
attacked by the Tripolitan army. Although 
ten times more numerous than Eaton's band, 
the assailants, after persisting four hours in the 
attempt, were compelled to retire. On the 10th 
of June another battle was fought, in which the 
enemy were defeated. The next day the Ameri- 
can frigate Constitution arrived in the harbour, 
which so terrified the Tripolitans that they fled 
precipitately to the desert. The frigate came, 
however, to arrest the operations of Eaton in 
the midst of his brilliant and successful career. 
Alarmed at his progress, the reigning bashaw 
had offered terms of peace, which being much 
more favourable than had before been offered, 
were accepted by Mr. Lear, the authorized 
agent of the government. Sixty thousand dol- 
lars were given as a ransom for the unfortunate 
American prisoners, and an engagement was 
made to w^ithdraw all support from Hamet. 
The nation, proud of the exploits of Eaton, 
regretted this diplomatic interference, but the 
treaty was subsequently ratified by the presi- 
dent and senate. 



208 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 



GENERAL HARRISON'S EXPEDITION AGAINST 
THE INDIANS. 

For several years the Indian tribes, residing 
near the sources of the Mississippi, had occu- 
pied themselves in murdering and robbing the 
white settlers in their vicinity. At length the 
frontier inhabitants, being seriously alarmed by 
their hostile indications, in the autumn of 1811, 
Governor Harrison resolved to move towards 
the Prophet's town, on the Wabash, with a body 
of Kentucky and Indiana militia, and the fourth 
United States regiment, under Colonel Boyd, 
to demand satisfaction of the Indians, and to 
put a stop to their threatened hostilities. His 
expedition was made early in November. On 
his approach within a few miles of the Prophet's 
town, the principal chiefs came out with offers 
of peace and submission, and requested the 
governor to encamp for the night ; but this w^as 
only a treacherous artifice. At four in the 
morning the camp was furiously assailed, and a 
bloody contest ensued ; the Indians were how- 
ever repulsed. The loss on the part of the 
Americans was sixty-two killed, and one hun- 
dred and tw^enty-six wotmded, and a still greater 
number on the side of the Indians. Governor 
Harrison, having destroyed the Prophet's town, 
and established forts, returned to Vincennes. 



PERRY S VICTORY. 209 



PERRY'S VICTORY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 

By the exertions of Commodore Perry, an 
American squadron had been fitted out on Lake 
Erie early in September. It consisted of nine 
small vessels, in all carrying fifty-four guns. A 
British squadron had also been built and 
equipped, under the superintendence of Commo- 
dore Barclay. It consisted of six vessels, mount- 
ing sixty-three guns. Commodore Perry, im- 
mediately sailing, offered battle to his adversary, 
and on the lOth of September, the British com- 
mander left the harbour of Maiden to accept 
the oflfer. In a few hours the wind shifted, 
giving the Americans the advantage. Perry, 
forming the line of battle, hoisted his flag, on 
which were inscribed the words of the dying 
Lawrence, " Don't give up the ship." Loud 
huzzas from all the vessels proclaimed the ani- 
mation which this motto inspired. About noon 
the firing commenced ; and after a short action 
two of the British vessels surrendered, and the 
rest of the American squadron now joining in 
the battle, the victory was rendered decisive 
and complete. The British loss was forty-one 
killed, and ninety-four wounded. The Ameri- 
can loss was twenty-seven killed, and ninety- 
six wounded, of which number tv.'enty-one were 
killed and sixty-two wounded on board the flag- 
ship Lawrence, whose whole complement of 
able-bodied men before the action was about 
18*^ 



SlO 



BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 



one hundred. The commodore gave intelligence 
of the victory to General Harrison in these 
words : '* We have met the enemy, and they 
are ours. Two ships, two brigs, one schooner, 
and one sloop." The Americans were now 
masters of the lake ; but the territory of Michi- 
gan was still in the possession of Colonel Proc- 
tor. The next movements were against the 
British and Indians at Detroit and Maiden. 
General Harrison had previously assembled a 
portion of the Ohio militia on the Sandusky 
river ; and on the 7th of September, four thou- 
sand from Kentucky, the flower of the state, 
•with Governor Shelby at their head, arrived at 
his camp. With the co-operation of the fleet, 
it was determined to proceed at once to Maiden. 
On the 27th the troops were received on board, 
and reached Maiden the same day ; but the 
British had, in the mean time, destroyed the 
fort and public stores, and retreated along the 
Thames towards the Moravian villages, together 
with Tecumseh's Indians, amounting to twelve 
or fifteen hundred. It was now resolved to 
proceed in pursuit of Proctor. On the 5th of 
October a severe battle was fought between the 
two armies at the river Thames, and the British 
army was taken by the Americans. In this 
battle Tecumseh was killed, and the Indians 
fled. The British loss was nineteen regulars 
killed and fifty wounded, and about six hundred 
prisoners. The American loss, in killed and 
wounded, amounted to upwards of fifty. Proc- 
tor made his escape down the Thames. 



NAVAL VICTORIES. 211 



NAVAL VICTORIES OF 1812. 

On the 19th of August, Captain Hull, com- 
manding the Constitution, of forty-four guns, 
fell in with the British frigate, Le Guerriere. 
She advanced towards the Constitution, firing 
broadsides at intervals ; the American reserved 
her fire till she had approached within half- 
pistol shot, when a tremendous cannonade was 
directed upon her, and in thirty minutes, every 
mast and nearly every spar being shot away, 
Captain Dacres struck his flag. Of the crew, 
fifty were killed and sixty-four wounded ; while 
the Constitution had only seven killed and seven 
wounded. The Guerriere received so much 
injury, that it was thought to be impossible to 
get her into port, and she was burned. Captain 
Hull, on his return to the United States, was 
welcomed with enthusiasm by his grateful and 
admiring countrymen. The vast difference in 
the number of killed and wounded, certainly 
evinced great skill, as well as bravery, on the 
part of the American seamen. But this was 
the first only of a series of naval victories. On 
the 18th of October, Captain Jones, in the 
Wasp, of eighteen guns, captured the Frolic, of 
twenty-two, after a bloody conflict of three- 
quarters of an hour. In this action the Ameri- 
cans obtained a victory over a superior force ; 
and, on their part, but eight were killed and 
wounded, while on that of the enemy about 



212 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

eighty. The Wasp was unfortunately captured, 
soon after her victory, by a British ship of the 
line. On the 25th, the frigate United States, 
commanded by Captain Decatur, captured the 
British frigate Macedonian. In this instance, 
also, the disparity of loss was astonishingly 
great : on the part of the enemy, a hundred and 
four were killed and wounded ; on that of the 
Americans, but eleven. The United States 
brought her prize safely to New York. A most 
desperate action was fought, on the 29th of 
December, between the Constitution, of forty- 
four guns, then commanded by Captain Bain- 
bridge, and the British frigate Java, of thirty- 
eight. The combat continued more than three 
hours; nor did the Java strike till she was 
reduced to a mere wreck. Of her crew, a 
hundred and sixty-one were killed and wounded, 
while of that of the Constitution, there were 
only thirty-four. 

These naval victories were peculiarly grati- 
fying to the feelings of the Americans ; they 
were gained in the midst of disasters on land, 
and by that class of citizens whose rights had 
been violated ; they were gained over a nation 
whom long-continued success had taught to 
consider themselves lords of the sea, and who 
had confidently affirmed that the whole Ameri- 
can navy would soon be swept from the ocean. 
Many British merchantmen were also captured, 
both by the American navy and by privateers, 
which issued from almost every port, and were 
remarkably successful. 



CAPTURE OF LOUISBOURG. 21^ 



CAPTURE OF LOUISBOURG. 

Commerce in general, and especially the fisli- 
eries, suffered great injury from privateers fitted 
out at Louisbourg, a French port on Cape Bre- 
ton. Its situation gave it such importance, that 
nearly six millions of dollars had been expend- 
ed on its fortifications. The place was deemed 
so strong as to deserve the appellation of the 
Dunkirk of America. In peace, it was a safe 
reh'eat for the ships of France, bound home- 
ward from the East and West Indies. In war, 
it gave the French the greatest advantage for 
ruining the fishery of the northern English colo- 
nies, and endangered the loss of Nova Scotia. 
The reduction of this place was, for these rea- 
sons, an object of the highest importance to 
New England ; and Mr. Vaughan, of New 
Hampshire, who haa often visited that place as 
a trader, conceived the project of an expedition 
against it. He communicated it to Governor 
Shirley, and being ardent and enthusiastic, con- 
vinced him that the enterprise was practicable, 
and inspired him with his own enthusiasm. 
Early in January, before he received any an- 
swer to the communications he had sent to Eng- 
land on the subject, he requested of the mem- 
bers of the general court, that they would lay 
themselves under an oath of secresy to receive 
from him a proposal of very great importance. 
They readily took the oath, and he communi- 



Sl4 BEAUTIES OF AMEIIICAN HISTORY, 

cated to them the plan which he had formed of 
attacking Louisbourg. The proposal was at 
first rejected ; but it was finally carried by a 
majority of one. Letters were immediately 
despatched to all the colonies, as far as Penn- 
sylvania, requesting their assistance, and an 
embargo on their ports. Forces were promptly 
raised, and William Pepperrell, Esq., of Kittery, 
was appointed commander of the expedition. 
This officer, with several transports, under the 
convoy of the Shirley snow, sailed from Nan- 
tucket on the 24th of March, and arrived at 
Canso on the 4th of April. Here the troops, 
joined by those of New Hampshire and Con- 
necticut, amounting collectively to upwards of 
four thousand, were detained three weeks, wait- 
ing for the ice, which environed the island of 
Cape Breton, to be dissolved. At length Com- 
modore Warren, agreeably to orders from Eng- 
land, arrived at Canso in the Superbe, of sixty 
guns, with three other ships of forty guns each ; 
and, after a consultation with the general, pro- 
ceeded to cruise before Louisbourg. The gen- 
eral soon after sailed with the whole fleet ; and 
on the 30th of April, coming to anchor at Cha- 
peaurouge Bay, landed his troops. Lieutenant- 
Colonel Vaughan conducted the first column 
through the woods within sight of Louisbourg, 
and saluted the city with three cheers. At the 
head of a detachment, chiefly of the New Hamp- 
shire troops, he marched in the night to the 
north-east part of the harbour, where they 
burned the warehouses containing the naval 



t)APTURE OF LOUISBOURG. 215 

stores, and staved a large quantity of wine and 
brandy. The smoke of this fire, driven by the 
wind into the grand battery, so terrified the 
French, that they abandoned it; and, spiiving 
the guns, retired to the city. The next morn- 
ing Yaughan took possession of the deserted 
battery; but the most difficult labours of the 
siege remained to be performed. The cannon 
were to be drawn nearly two miles over a deep 
morass within gun-shot of the enemy's princi- 
pal fortifications ; and for fourteen nights the 
troops, with straps over their shoulders, sinking 
to their knees in mud, were employed in this 
arduous service. The approaches were then 
begun in the mode which seemed most proper 
to the shrewd understandings of untaught mili- 
tia. Those officers who were skilled in the art 
of war talked of zig-zags and epaulements ; but 
the troops made themselves merry with the 
terms, and proceeded in their own way. By 
the 20th of May they had erected five batteries, 
one of which mounted five forty-two pounders, 
and did great execution. Meanwhile, the fleet 
cruising in the harbour had been equally suc- 
cessful ; it captured a French ship of sixty-four 
guns, loaded with stores for the garrison, to 
whom the loss was as distressing as to the be- 
siegers the capture was fortunate. English 
ships of war were, besides, continually arriving, 
and added such strength to the fleet, that a 
combined attack upon the town was resolved 
upon. 
Discouraged by these adverse events and me- 



216 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

nacing appearances, Duchambon, the French 
commander, determined to surrender ; and, on 
the 16th of June, articles of capitulation were 
signed. After the surrender of the city, the 
French flag was kept flying on the ramparts ; 
and several rich prizes were thus decoyed. 
Two East Indiamen, and one South Sea ship, 
estimated at 600,000/. sterling, were taken by 
the squadron at the mouth of the harbour. 
This expedition was one of the most remarka- 
ble events in the history of North America. It 
was not less hazardous in the attempt, than suc- 
cessful in the execution. " It displayed the 
enterprising spirit of New England ; and though 
it enabled Britain to purchase a p ace, yet it 
excited her envy and jealousy again: t the colo- 
nies, by whose exertions it was acquired." The 
intelligence of this event spread rapidly through 
the colonies, and diflfused universal joy. Well 
might the citizens of New England be some- 
what elated ; without even a suggestion from 
the mother country, they had projected, and 
with but comparatively little assistance achiev- 
ed, an enterprise of vast importance to her and 
them. Their commerce and fisheries were now 
secure, and their maritime cities relieved from 
all fear of attack from a quarter recently so 
great a source of dread and discomfort. 



JAMES OTIS. 217 



JAMES OTIS'S RESISTANCE OF THE WRITS OF 

ASSISTANCE. 

The writ of assistance was to command all 
sheriffs and other civil officers to assist the per- 
son to whom it was granted in breaking open 
and searching every place where he might sus- 
pect any prohibited or uncustomed goods to be 
concealed. It was a sort of commission, during 
pleasure, to ransack the dwellings of the citi- 
zens ; for it was never to be returned, nor any 
account of the proceedings under it rendered 
to the court whence it issued. Such a weapon 
of oppression in the hands of the inferior officers 
of the customs, might well alarm even innocence, 
and confound the violators of the law. 

The mercantile part of the community united 
in opposing the petition, and was in a state of 
great anxiety, as to the result of the question. 
The officers of the customs called upon Mr. 
Otis for his official assistance, as advocate-gen- 
eral, to argue their cause : but as he believed 
these writs to be illegal and tyrannical, he re- 
signed the situation, though very lucrative, and 
if filled by a compliant spirit, 'leading to the 
highest favours of government. The merchants 
of Salem and Boston applied to Otis and Thach- 
er, who engaged to make their defence. The 
trial took place in the council chamber of the 
Old Town House, in Boston. The judges were 
19 ^ ^ 



218 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 

five in number, including Lieutenant-Governor 
Hutchinson, who presided as chief justice ; and 
the room was filled with all the officers of go- 
vernment and the principal citizens, to hear the 
arguments in a cause that inspired the deepest 
solicitude. The case was opened by Mr. Grid- 
ley, who argued it with much learning, inge- 
nuity, and dignity, urging every point and au- 
thority that could be found, after the most dili- 
gent search, in favour of the custom-house pe- 
tition ; making all his reasoning depend on this 
consideration, — "if the parliament of Great 
Britain is the sovereign legislator of the British 
empire." He was followed by Mr. Thacher 
on the opposite side, whose reasoning was inge- 
nious and able, delivered in a tone of great mild- 
ness and moderation. " But,'* in the language 
of President Adams, " Otis was a flame of fire ; 
with a promptitude of classical allusion, a depth 
of research, a rapid summary of historical events 
and dates, a profusion of legal authorities, a pro- 
phetic glance into futurity, and a rapid torrent 
of impetuous eloquence, he hurried away all 
before him. American independence was then 
and there born. The seeds of patriots and he- 
roes to defend the Mon sine Diis anirnosus in- 
fans, to defend the vigorous youth, were then 
and there sown. Every man of an immense 
crowded audience appeared to me to go away 
as I did, ready to take arms against writs of 
assistance. Then and there was the first scene 
of the first act of opposition to the arbitrary 



HETIREMENT OF WASHINGTON. 219 

claims of Great Britain. Then and there the 
child Independence was born. In fifteen years, 
i, 6., in 1776, he grew up to manhood and de- 
clared himself free." 



RETIREMENT OF WASHINGTON FROM THE 
PRESIDENCY. 

As the period for a new election of a Presi- 
dent of the United States approached, after 
plain indications that the public voice would be 
in his favour, and when he probably would 
have been chosen for the third time unanimous- 
ly, Washington determined irrevocably to with- 
draw to the seclusion of private life. He pub- 
lished, in September, 1796, a farewell address 
to the people of the United States, which ought 
to be engraven upon the hearts of his country- 
men. In the most earnest and affectionate man- 
ner he called upon them to cherish an immova- 
ble attachment to the national union, to watch 
for its preservation with jealous anxiety, to dis- 
countenance even the suggestion that it could 
in any event be abandoned, and indignantly to 
frown upon the first dawning of every attempt 
to alienate any portion of the country from the 
rest. Overgrown military establishments he 
represented as particularly hostile to republican 
liberty. While he recommended the most im- 
plicit obedience to the acts of the established 



220 BEAUTIES OF AJiERiCAN HISTORY. 

government, and reprobated all obstructions to 
the execution of the laws, all combinations and 
associations, under whatever plausible charac- 
ter, with the real design to direct, control, coun- 
teract, or overawe the regular deliberation and 
action of the constituted authorities, he wished 
also to guard against the spirit of innovation 
upon the principles of the constitution. Aware 
that the energy of the system might be enfee- 
bled by alterations, he thought that no change 
should be made without an evident necessity ; 
and that, in so extensive a country, as much 
vigour as is consistent with liberty was indis- 
pensable. On the other hand, he pointed out 
the danger of a real despotism, by breaking 
down the partitions between the several depart- 
ments of government, by destroying the recip- 
rocal checks, and consolidating the different 
powers. Against the spirit of party, so pecu- 
liarly baneful in an elective government, he ut- 
tered his most solemn remonstrances, as well as 
against inveterate antipathies or passionate at- 
tachments in respect to foreign nations. While 
he thought that the jealousy of a free people 
ought to be constantly and impartially awake 
against the wiles of foreign influence, he wished 
that good faith and justice should be observed 
towards all nations, and peace and harmony 
cultivated. In his opinion, honesty, no less in 
public than in private affairs, was always the 
best policy. Providence, he believed, had con- 
nected the permanent felicity of a nation with 
its virtue. Other subjects to which he alluded, 



mA 



RETIREMENT OF WASHINGTON. 221 

were the importance of credit, of economy, of 
a reduction of the public debt, and of literary 
institutions ; above ail, he recommended religion 
and morality as indispensably necessary to po- 
litical prosperity. This address to the people 
of the United States was received with the 
highest veneration and gratitude. Several of 
the State legislatures ordered it to be put upon 
their journals, and every citizen considered it 
as the legacy of the most distinguished Ameri- 
can patriot. 

On the 7th of December, 1796, the President 
for the last time met the National Legislature. 
In his speech, after taking a view of the situa- 
tion of the United States, regardless of opposi- 
tion and censure, he recommended the attention 
of Congress to those measures which he deemed 
essential to national independence, honour, and 
prosperity. On the 4th of March, 1797, he 
attended the inauguration of his successor in 
office. Great sensibility was manifested by the 
members of the legislature and other distin- 
guished characters when he entered the senate 
chamber, and much admiration expressed at the 
complacence and delight he manifested at see- 
ing another clothed with the authority with 
which he had himself been invested. Having 
paid his affectionate compliments to Mr. Adams, 
as President of the United States, he bade adieu 
to the seat of government, and hastened to the 
delights of domestic life. He intended that his 
journey should have been private, but the at- 
tempt was vain ; the same affectionate and re- 
19* 



222 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

spectful attentions were on this occason paid him 
which he had received during his presidency. 
In his retirement at Mount Vernon he gave the 
world the glorious example of a man volunta- 
rily disrobing himself of the highest authority, 
and returning to private life, with a character 
having upon it no stain of ambition, of cove- 
tousness, of profusion, of luxury, of oppression, 
or of injustice; while it was adorned with the 
presence of virtues and graces, brilliant alike 
in the shade of retirement and in the glare of 
public life. 



NOBLE DEFENCE OF CHARLESTON. 

In the latter part of the year 1775 and be- 
ginning of 1776, great exertions had been made 
in Britain to send an overwhelming force into 
America; and on the 2d of June the alarm 
guns were fired in the vicinity of Charleston, 
and expresses sent to the militia officers to 
hasten to the defence of the capital with the 
forces under their command. The order was 
promptly obeyed ; and some continental regi- 
ments from the neighbouring states also arrived. 
The whole was under the direction of General 
Lee, who had been appointed commander of all 
the forces in the southern states, and had under 
him the continental generals, Armstrong and 
Howe. 



NOBLE DEFENCE OF CHARLESTON. 223 

The utmost activity prevailed in Charles- 
ton. The citizens, abandoning their usual 
avocations, employed themselves entirely in 
putting the town into a respectable state of 
defence. They pulled down the valuable store- 
houses on the wharfs, barricadoed the streets, 
and constructed lines of defence along the shore. 
Relinquishing the pursuits of peaceful industry 
and commercial gain, they engaged in incessant 
labour, and prepared for bloody conflicts. The 
troops, amounting to between five and six 
thousand men, were stationed in the most ad- 
vantageous positions. The second and third 
regular regiments of South Carolina, under 
colonels Moultrie and Thomson, were posted 
on Sullivan's Island. A regiment, commanded 
by Colonel Gadsden, was stationed at Fort 
Johnson, about three miles below Charleston, 
on the most northerly point of James's Island, 
and within point blank shot of the channel. 
The rest of the troops were posted at Haddrel's 
Point, along the bay near the town, and at such 
other places as were thought most proper. 
Amidst all this bustle and preparation, lead for 
bullets was extremely scarce, and the windows 
of Charlestown were stripped of their w^eights, 
in order to procure a small supply of that 
necessary article. 

While the Americans were thus busily em- 
ployed, the British exerted themselves with 
activity. About the middle of February, an 
armament sailed from the Cove of Cork, under 
the command of Sir Peter Parker and Earl 



224 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

Cornwallis, to encourage'and support the loyal- 
ists in the southern provinces. 

After a tedious voyage, the greater part of 
the fleet reached Cape Fear, in North Carolina, 
on the 3d of May. General Clinton, who had 
left Boston in December, took the command of 
the land forces, and issued a proclamation, pro- 
mising pardon to all the inhabitants who laid 
down their arms; but that proclamation pro- 
duced no effect. Early in June, the armament, 
consisting of between forty and fifty vessels, 
appeared off Charleston bay, and thirty-six 
of the transports passed the bar, and anchored 
about three miles from Sullivan's Island. Some 
hundreds of the troops landed on Long Island, 
which lies on the west of Sullivan's Island, and 
which is separated from it by a narrow chan- 
nel, often fordable. On the 10th of the month, 
the Bristol, a fifty-gun ship, having taken out 
her guns, got safely over the bar; and on the 
25th, the Experiment, a ship of equal force, 
arrived, and next day passed in the same way. 
On the part of the British every thing was now 
ready for action. Sir Henry Clinton had nearly 
three thousand men under his command. The 
naval force, under Sir Peter Parker, consisted 
of the Bristol and Experiment, of fifty guns 
each ; the Active, Acteon, Solebay, and Syren 
frigates, of twenty-eight guns each ; the Friend- 
ship, of twenty-two, and the Sphinx, of twenty 
guns ; the Ranger sloop, and Thunder bomb, 
of eight guns each. 

On the forenoon of the 28th of June, this 



NOBLE DEFENCE OF CHARLESTON. 225. 

fleet advanced against the fort on Sullivan's 
Island, which was defended by Colonel Moul- 
trie, with three hundred and forty-four regular 
troops, and some militia, who volunteered their 
services on the occasion. The Thunder bomb 
began the battle. The Active, Bristol, Experi- 
ment, and Solebay followed boldly to the at- 
tack, and a terrible cannonade ensued. The 
fort returned the fire of the ships slowly, but 
with deliberate and deadly aim. The contest 
was carried on during the whole day with 
unabating fury. All the forces collected at 
Charleston stood prepared for battle ; and 
both the troops pnd the numerous spectators 
beheld the conflict with alternations of hope 
and fear, which appeared in their countenances 
and gestures. They knew not how soon the 
fort might be silenced or passed by, and the 
attack immediately made upon themselves ; but 
they were resolved to meet the invaders at the 
water's edge, to dispute every inch of ground, 
and to prefer death to what they considered 
to be slavery. 

The Sphinx, Acteon, and Syren were ordered 
to attack the western extremity of the fort, 
which was in a very unfinished state; but, as 
they proceeded for that purpose, they got en- 
tangled with a shoal, called the Middle Ground. 
Two of them ran foul of each other: the Acteon 
stuck fast ; the Sphinx and Syren got off*, the 
former with the loss of her bowsprit, the latter 
with little injury; but, happily for the Ameri- 
cans, that part of the attack completely failed;. 



226 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

It had been concerted that, during the attack 
by the ships, Sir Henry Clinton, with the 
troops, should pass the narrow channel which 
separates Long Island from Sullivan's Island, 
and assail the fort by land : but this the general 
found impracticable ; for the channel, though 
commonly fordable, was at that time, by a long 
prevalence of easterly winds, deeper than usual. 
Sir Henry Clinton and some other officers 
"waded up to the shoulders; but, finding the 
depth still increasing, they abandoned the in- 
tention of attempting the passage. The sea- 
men, who found themselves engaged in such a 
severe conflict, often cast a wistful look towards 
Long Island, in the hope of seeing Sir Henry 
Clinton and the troops advancing against the 
fort ; but their hope was disappointed, and the 
ships and the fort were left to themselves to 
decide the combat. Although the channel had 
been fordable, the British troops would have 
found the passage an arduous enterprise; for 
Colonel Thomson, with a strong detachment of 
riflemen, regulars, and militia, was posted on 
the east end of Sullivan's Island, to oppose any 
attack made in that quarter. 

In the course of the day the fire of the fort 
ceased for a short time, and the British flattered 
themselves that the guns were abandoned ; but 
the pause was occasioned solely by the want 
of powder, and when a supply was obtained, 
the cannonade recommenced a? steadily as 
before. The engagement, which began about 
eleven o'clock in the forenoon, continued with 



NOBLE DEFENCE OF CHARLESTON. 227 

unabated fury till seven in the evening, when 
the fire slackened, and about nine entirely- 
ceased on both sides. During the night all the 
ships, except the Acteon which was aground, 
removed about two miles from the island. Next 
morning the fort fired a few shots at the Acteon, 
and she at first returned them ; but, in a short 
time, her crew set her on fire and abandoned 
her. A party of Americans boarded the burn- 
ing vessel, seized her colours, fired some of her 
guns at Commodore Parker, filled three boats 
with her sails and stores, and then quitted her. 
She blew up shortly afterwards. 

In this obstinate engagement both parties 
fought with great gallantry. The loss of the 
British was considerable. The Bristol had 
forty men killed, and seventy-one wounded ; 
Mr. Morris, her captain, lost an arm. The 
Experiment had twenty-three men killed, and 
seventy-six wounded ; captain Scott, her com- 
mander, also lost an arm ; Lord William Camp- 
bell, the late governor of the province, who 
served on board as a volunteer, received a 
wound in his side which ultimately proved 
mortal ; Commodore Sir Peter Parker received 
a slight contusion. The Acteon had Lieutenant 
Pike killed, and six men wounded. The Sole- 
bay had eight men wounded. After some days 
the troops were all reimbarked, and the whole 
armament sailed for New York. The garrison 
lost ten men killed, and twenty-two wounded. 
Although the Americans were raw troops, yet 
they behaved with the steady intrepidity of 



228 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

veterans. In the course of the engagement the 
flag-staff of the fort was shot away ; but Ser- 
geant Jasper leaped down upon the beach, 
snatched up the flag, fastened it to a sponge 
staff*, and, while the ships were incessantly 
directing their broadsides upon the fort, he 
mounted the merlon and deliberately replaced 
the flag. Next day president Rutledge pre- 
sented him with a sword, as a testimony of 
respect for his distinguished valour. Colonel 
Moultrie, and the officers and troops on Sulli- 
van's Island, received the thanks of their coun- 
try for their bravery ; and, in honour of the 
gallant commander, the fort was named Fort 
Sloultrie. 

The failure of the attack on Charlestown 
was of great importance to the American cause, 
and contributed much to the establishment of 
the popular government. The friends of con- 
gress triumphed ; and numbers of them, igno- 
rant of the power of Britain and of the spirit 
which animated her counsels, fondly imagined 
that their freedom was achieved. The diffident 
became bold : the advocates of the irresistibility 
of British fleets and armies were mortified 
and silenced ; and they, who from interested 
motives had hitherto been loud in their profes- 
sions of loyalty, began to alter their tone. The 
brave defence of Fort Moultrie saved the south- 
ern states from the horrors of war for several 
years. 



BATTLE OF EUTAW SPRINGS. 229 



BATTLE OF EUTAW SPRINGS. 

Lord Rawdon having returned to England, 
the command of the British troops in South 
Carolina devolved upon Lieutenant-Colonel 
Stewart ; who, in the beginning of September, 
took post at Eutaw Springs. General Green 
marched against him from the hills of Santee. 
The rival forces were equal, amounting on 
each side to two thousand men. On the 8th 
an attack was made by the Americans : a part 
of the British line, consisting of new troops, 
broke, and fled ; but the veteran corps received 
the charge of the assailants on the points of 
their bayonets. The hostile ranks were for a 
time intermingled, and the officers fought hand 
to hand ; but Lieutenant-Colonel Lee, who had 
turned the British left flank, charging them at 
this instant in the rear, their line was soon 
completely broken, and driven off the field. 
They were vigorously pursued by the Ameri- 
cans, who took upwards of five hundred of 
them prisoners. The British, on their retreat, 
took post in a large three-story brick house, 
and in a picketed garden ; and from these ad- 
vantageous positions renewed the action. Four 
six-pounders were ordered up before the house; 
but the Americans were compelled to leave 
these pieces and retire. They formed again at 
a small distance in the woods; but General 
Green, thinking it inexpedient to renew the 
20 



230 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

desperate attempt, left a strong picket on the 
field of battle, and retired with his prisoners to 
the ground from which he had marched in the 
morning. In the evening of the next day, 
Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart, leaving seventy 
of his wounded men and one thousand stand 
of arms, moved from Eutaw towards Charles- 
ton. The loss of the British, inclusive of pri- 
soners, was supposed to be not less than eleven 
hundred men. The loss of the Americans, in 
killed, wounded, and missing, was about half 
that number. This battle was attended by 
consequences very advantageous to the Ameri- 
cans, and may be considered as closing the 
revolutionary war in South Carolina. 



BATTLE OF TRENTON, 1776. 

The neighbourhood of Philadelphia now be- 
coming the seat of war. Congress adjourned to 
Baltimore; resolving at the same time ''that 
General Washington should be possessed of full 
powers to order and direct all things relative to 
the department and the operations of the war." 
In this extremity, judicious determinations in 
the cabinet were accompanied with vigorous 
operations in the field. The united exertions 
of civil and military officers had by this time 
brought a considerable body of militia into their 
ranks. General Sullivan, too, on whom the 



BATTLE OF TRENTON. 231 

coiTimand of General Lee's division devolved 
on his capture, promptly obeyed the orders of 
the commander-in-chief, and at this period join- 
ed him, and General Heath marched a detach- 
ment from Peek's Kill. 

The army, with these reinforcements, amount- 
ed to seven thousand men, and General Wash- 
ington determined to commence active and bold 
operations. He had noticed the loose and un- 
covered state of the winter quarters of the Bri- 
tish army, and contemplated the preservation 
of Philadelphia, and the recovery of New Jer- 
sey, by sweeping, at one stroke, all the British 
cantonments upon the Delaware. The present 
position of his forces favoured the execution of 
his plan. The troops under the immediate com- 
mand of General Washington, consisting of 
about two thousand four hundred men, were 
ordered to cross the river at M'Konkey's ferry, 
nine miles above Trenton, to attack that post. 
General Irvine was directed to cross with his 
division at Trenton ferry, to secure the bridge 
below the town, and prevent the retreat of the 
enemy that way. General Cadwallader receiv- 
ed orders to pass the river at Bristol ferry, and 
assault the post at Burlington. The night of 
the 25th was assigned for the execution of this 
daring scheme. It proved to be severely cold, 
and so much ice was made in the river, that 
General Irvine and General Cadwallader, after 
having strenuously exerted themselves, found it 
impracticable to pass their divisions, and their 
part of the plan totally failed. The command- 



232 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

er-in-chief was, however, more fortunate, and, 
though with much difficulty and considerable 
loss of time, succeeded in crossing the river, 
and reached Trenton by eight o'clock in the 
morning. The brave Colonel Rawle, the com- 
manding officer, assembled his forces for the 
defence of his post ; but he was mortally wound- 
ed by the first fire, and his men, in apparent 
dismay, attempted to file oflf towards Princeton. 
General Washington, perceiving their intention, 
moved a part of his troops into this road in 
their front, and defeated the design. Their ar- 
tillery being seized, and the Americans pressing 
upon them, they surrendered. Twenty of the 
Germans were killed, and a thousand made pri- 
soners. By the failure of General Irvine, a 
small body of the enemy stationed in the lower 
part of the town escaped over the bridge to 
Bordentown. Of the American troops, two pri- 
vates were killed and two frozen to death, and 
one officer and three or four privates were 
wounded. Could the other divisions have cross- 
ed the Delaware, General Washington's plan, 
in its full extent, would probably have succeed- 
ed. Not thinking it prudent to hazard the fruits 
of this gallant stroke by more daring attempts, 
the General the same day recrossed the Dela- 
ware with his prisoners, with six pieces of artil- 
lery, a thousand stand of arms, and some mili- 
tary stores. 

This display of enterprise and vigour on the 
part of the Americans astonished and perplexed 
General Howe, and, though in the depth of 
winter, he found it necessary to commence ^c- 



BATTLE OF TRENTON. 238 

live operations. Such was the reviving influ- 
ence on the minds of the American soldiers, and 
such the skill which the commander-in-chief 
exercised, that, after several successful opera- 
tions following that of Trenton, he not only 
saved Piiiladelphia and Pennsylvania, but reco- 
vered the greatest part of the Jerseys, in defi- 
ance of an army vastly superior to his, in dis- 
cipline, resources, and numbers. Of all their 
recent extensive possessions in the Jerseys, the 
English retained now only the posts of Bruns- 
wick and Amboy. These successful operations 
on the part of the Americans were immediately 
followed by a proclamation, in the name of Gen- 
eral Washington, absolving all those who had 
been induced to take the oaths of allegiance 
tendered by the British commissioners, and pro- 
mising them protection on condition of their 
subscribing to a form of oath prescribed by 
Congress. The effects of this proclamation were 
almost instantaneous. The inhabitants of the 
Jerseys, who had conceived a violent hatred to 
the British army, on account of their unchecked 
course of plundering, instantly renounced their 
allegiance to Great Britain, and attached them- 
selves to the cause of America. Several who 
were resolved to avenge their wrongs, joined 
the army under General Washington, while 
others rendered equal service to the side to 
which they attached themselves, by supplying 
the American army with provisions and fuel,, 
and by conveying intelligence of the operations 
of the British army. 
20* 



234 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 



BATTLE OF PRINCETON. 

Having secured the Hessian prisoners on the 
Pennsylvania side of the Delaware, Washing- 
ton recrossed the river two days after the ac- 
tion, and took possession of Trenton. Generals 
Mifflin and Cadwallader, who lay at Borden- 
town and Crosswix with three thousand six 
hundred militia, were ordered to march up in 
the night of the 1st of January, to join the com- 
mander-in-chief, whose whole effective force, 
including this accession, did not exceed five 
thousand men. The detachments of the Brit- 
ish army which had been distributed over New 
Jersey, now assembled at Princeton, and were 
joined by the army from Brunswick under Lord 
Cornwallis. From this position they advanced 
toward Trenton in great force, on the morning 
of the 2d of January ; and, after some slight 
skirmishing with troops detached to harass and 
delay their march, the van of their army reach- 
ed Trenton about four in the afternoon. On 
their approach, General Washington retired 
across the Assumpinck, a rivulet that runs 
through the town, and by some field pieces, 
posted on its opposite banks, compelled them, 
after attempting to cross in several places, to 
fall back out of the reach of his guns. The 
two armies, kindling their fires, retained their 
positions on opposite sides of the rivulet, and 
kept up a cannonade until night. The situa- 



BATTLE OF PRINCETON. 235 

tion of the American general was at this mo- 
ment extremely critical. Nothing but a stream, 
in many places fordable, separated his army 
from an enemy in every respect its superior. 
If he remained in his present position, he was 
certain of being attacked the next morning, at 
the hazard of the entire destruction of his little 
army. If he should retreat over the Delaware, 
the ice in that river not being firm enough to 
admit a passage upon it, there was danger of 
great loss, perhaps of a total defeat ; the Jer- 
seys would be in full possession of the enemy ; 
the public mind would be depressed ; recruiting 
would be discouraged ; and Philadelphia would 
be within the reach of General Howe. In this 
extremity, he boldly determined to abandon the 
Delaware, and, by a circuitous march along the 
left flank of the enemy, fall into their rear at 
Princeton. When it was dark, the army, leav- 
ing its fires lighted, and the sentinels on the 
margin of the creek, decamped with perfect 
secresy. About sunrise two British regiments, 
that were on their march to join the rear of the 
British army at Maidenhead, fell in with the 
van of the Americans, conducted by General 
Mercer, and a very sharp action ensued. The 
advanced party of Americans, composed chiefly 
of militia, soon gave way, and the few regulars 
attached to them could not maintain their 
ground. General Mercer, while gallantly ex- 
erting himself to rally his broken troops, re- 
ceived a mortal wound. General Washington, 
however, who followed close in their rear, now 



236 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

led on the main body of the army, and attacked 
the enemy with great spirit. While he exposed 
himself to their hottest fire, he was so well sup- 
ported by the same troops which had aided him 
a few days before in the victory at Trenton, 
that the British were compelled to give way, 
and Washington pressed forward to Princeton. 
A party of the British that had taken refuge in 
the college, after receiving a few discharges 
from the American field-pieces, surrendered 
themselves prisoners of war ; but the principal 
part of the regiment that was left there, saved 
itself by a precipitate retreat to Brunswick. 
In this action upwards of a hundred of the 
British were killed, and nearly three hundred 
were taken prisoners. Great was the surprise 
of Lord Cornwallis when the report of the ar- 
tillery at Princeton, and the arrival of breath- 
less messengers, apprised him that the enemy 
was in his rear. Alarmed by the danger of his 
position, he commenced a retreat ; and, being 
harassed by the militia and the countrymen 
who had suffered from the outrages perpetrated 
by his troops on their advance, he did not deem 
himself in safety till he arrived at Brunswick, 
from whence, by means of the Raritan, he had 
communication with New York. 



SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 237 



SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 

Brilliant as were the successes of General 
Green in the Carolinas, it was in Virginia that 
the last great stroke in favour of American 
independence was to be effected. The army 
under the commander-in-chief had passed an- 
other distressing winter, and symptoms of 
mutiny had again manifested themselves, but 
were happily suppressed. Deplorably deficient 
in provisions and supplies, and promised rein- 
forcements being grievously delayed, Washing- 
ton still remained undiscouraged, and deter- 
mined, in conjunction with the French fleet, to 
resume vigorous operations. New York was 
the destined point of the combined attack ; but 
the large reinforcements which had recently 
arrived there, and other unfavourable circum- 
stances, induced the commander-in-chief, so 
late as August, entirely to change the plan of 
the campaign, and to resolve to attempt the 
capture of the army of Lord Cornwall is, which 
had now taken up a position at Yorktown, in 
Virginia. The defence of West Point, and of 
the other posts on the Hudson, was committed 
to General Heath, and a large portion of the 
troops raised in the northern states was for this 
service left under his command. 

General Washington resolved in person to 
conduct the Virginia expedition. The troops 
under Count Rochambeau, and strong detach- 



238 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

ments from the American army, amounting to 
more than two thousand men, and consisting 
of the light infantry, Lamb's artillery, and 
several other corps, were destined for it. By 
the 25th of August the whole body, American 
and French, had crossed the North River. An 
intercepted letter of General Washington's, in 
which he communicated, as the result of a con- 
sultation with the French commanders, the 
design to attack New York, had excited the 
apprehensions of the British general for the 
safety of that city. This apprehension was 
kept alive, and the real object of the Americans 
concealed, by preparations for an encampment 
in New Jersey, opposite to Staten Island, by 
the route of the American army, and other 
appearances, indicating an intention to besiege 
New York ; and the troops had passed the 
Delaware, out of reach of annoyance, before 
Sir Henry suspected their destination. General 
Washington pressed forward with the utmost 
expedition, and at Chester he received the im- 
portant intelligence that Count de Grasse had 
arrived with his fleet in the Chesapeake, and 
that the Marquis St. Simon had, with a body 
of three thousand land forces, joined the Mar- 
quis de Lafayette. Having directed the route 
of his army from the head of the Elk, he, 
accompanied by Rocliambeau, Chatelleux, Du 
Portrail, and Knox, proceeded to Virginia. 
They reached Williamsburgh on the 14th of 
September, and immediately repaired on board 
the Villa de Paris, to settle with Count de 



SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 239 

Grasse the plan of operations. The whole 
body of American and French troops reached 
Williamsburgh by the 25th of September. At 
this place the allied forces were joined by a 
detachment of the militia of Virginia, under 
the command of Governor Nelson, and pre- 
parations were soon made to attack the en- 
trenchments of Lord Cornwalli-s. 

Yorktown, the head-quarters of Lord Corn- 
wallis, is a village on the south side of York 
River, the southern banks of which are high, 
and where ships of the line may ride in safety. 
Gloucester Point is a piece of land on the oppo- 
site shore, projecting considerably into the 
river. Both these posts were occupied by the 
British ; and a communication between them 
was commanded by their batteries, and by 
several ships of war. The main body of Lord 
Cornvvallis's army was encamped on the open 
grounds about Yorktown, within a range of 
outer redoubts and field-works; and Lieutenant- 
Colonel Tarleton, with a detachment of six or 
seven hundred men, held the post at Gloucester 
Point. 

The legion of the Duke de Lauzun, and a 
brigade of militia under General Weedon, the 
whole commanded by the French general De 
Choise, were directed to watch and restrain 
the enemy on the side of Gloucester ; and the 
grand combined army, on the 30th of Septem- 
ber, moved down to the investiture of York- 
town. On the night of the 6th of October, 
advancing to within six hundred yards of the 



240 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

English lines, they began their first parallel, 
and laboured with such silence and diligence, 
that they were not discovered until morning, 
when the works they had raised were sufficient 
to protect them. On the 9th, several batteries 
being completed, a heavy cannonade was begun. 
Many of the British guns were dismounted, 
and portions of their fortifications laid level 
with the ground. On the night of the 11th, 
the besiegers commenced their second parallel, 
three hundred yards in advance of the first. 
This approach was made so much sooner than 
was expected, that the men were not discovered 
at their labour until they had rendered them- 
selves secure from all molestation in front. The 
fire from the new batteries was still more furious 
and destructive. From two British redoubts, 
in advance of their main works, and flanking 
those of the besiegers, the men in the trenches 
were so severely annoyed, that Washington 
resolved to storm them. The enterprise against 
one was committed to an American force under 
the Marquis de Lafayette, that against the 
other to a French detachment. Colonel Hamil- 
ton, who led the van of the former, made such 
an impetuous attack tha*^^ possession was soon 
obtained, with little slaughter. The French 
detachment was equally brave and successful, 
but sustained greater loss. On the 16th, a 
sortie was made from the garrison by a party 
of three hundred and fifty, commanded by 
Lieutenant-Colonel Abercrombie, who forced 
two batteries, and spiked eleven pieces of can- 



41 



SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 241 

non ; but the guards from the trenches imme- 
diately advancing on them, they retreated, and 
the pieces which they had hastily spiked were 
soon rendered fit for service. In the afternoon 
of the same day the besiegers opened several 
batteries in their second parallel ; and in the 
whole line of batteries nearly one hundred 
pieces of heavy ordnance were now mounted. 
The works of the besieged were so universally 
in ruins as to be in no condition to sustain the 
fire which might be expected the next day. 
In this extremity. Lord Cornwallis boldly re- 
solved to attempt an escape by land with the 
greater part of his army. His plan was to 
cross over, in the night, to Gloucester Point, 
and forcing his way through the troops under 
De Choise, to pass through Maryland, Penn- 
sylvania, and Jersey, and form a junction with 
the royal army at New York. In prosecution 
of this desperate design, one embarkation of 
his troops crossed over to the opposite point ; 
but a violent storm of wind and rain dispersed 
the boats, and frustrated the scheme. 

On the morning of the 17lh, the fire of the 
American batteries rendered the British post 
untenable. Lord Cornwallis, perceiving further 
resistance to be unavailing, about ten o'clock 
beat a parley, and proposed a cessation of hos- 
tilities for twenty-four hours, that commission- 
ers might meet to settle the term.s on which 
the posts of York and Gloucester should be 
surrendered. General Washington, in his an- 
swer, declared his " ardent desire to spare the 
21 



242 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

effusion of blood, and his readiness to listen to 
such terms as were admissible ;" but to prevent 
loss of time, he desired " that, previous to the 
meeting of the commissioners, the proposals of 
his lordship might be transmitted in writing, 
for which purpose a suspension of hostilities 
for two hours should be granted." The terms 
proposed by his lordship v/ere such as led the 
general to suppose that articles of capitulation 
might easily be adjusted, and he continued the 
cessation of hostilities until the next day. To 
expedite tlie business, he summarily stated the 
terms he was willing to grant, and informed 
Earl Cornwallis, that if he admitted these as 
the basis of a treaty, commissioners might 
meet to put them into form. Accordingly, 
Viscount de Noailles and Lieutenant-Colonel 
Laurens, on the part of the allies, and Colonel 
Dundas and Major Ross, on the part of the 
English, met the next day, and adjusted articles 
of capitulation, which were to be submitted to 
the consideration of the British general. Re- 
solving not to expose himself to any accident 
that might be the consequence of unnecessary 
delay. General Washington ordered the rough 
draft of the commissioners to be fairi^' tran- 
scribed, and sent to Lord Cornwaiiis early 
next morning, with a letter expressing his 
expectation that the garrison would march out 
by two o'clock in the afternoon. Hopeless of 
more favourable terms, his lordship signed the 
capitulation, and surrendered the posts of York 
and Gloucester, with their garrisons, to General 



SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 243 

Washington; and the shipping in the harbour, 
with the seamen, to Count de Grasse. The 
prisoners, exclusive of seamen, amounted to 
more than seven thousand, of which between 
four and five thousand only were fit for duty. 
The garrison lost, during the siege, six officers 
and five hundred and forty-eight privates in 
killed and wounded. The privates, with a 
competent number of officers, were to remain 
in Virginia, Maryland, or Pennsylvania. The 
officers not required for this service were per- 
mitted on parole to return to Europe, or to any 
of the maritime posts of the English on the 
American continent. The terms granted to 
Earl Cornwallis were, in general, the terms 
which had been granted to the Americans at 
the surrender of Charleston ; and General Lin- 
coln, who on that occasion resigned his sword 
to Lord Cornwallis, was appointed to receive 
the submission of the royal army. The allied 
army, to which Lord Cornwallis surrendered, 
amounted to sixteen thousand ; seven thousand 
French, five thousand five hundred continental 
troops, and three thousand five hundred militia. 
In the course of the siege they lost, in killed 
and wounded, about three hundred. The siege 
was prosecuted with so much military judgment 
and ardour, that the treaty was opened on the 
eleventh, and the capitulation signed on the 
thirteenth day after ground was broken before 
the British lines. 

The capture of so large a British army 
excited universal joy, and on no occasion 



244 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 

during the war did the Americans manifest 
greater exultation. From the nature and dura- 
tion of the contest, the affections of many had 
been so concentrated upon their country, and 
so intense was their interest in its fate, that the 
news of this brilliant success produced the most 
rapturous emotions, under the operations of 
which, it is said, some were even deprived of 
their reason, and one aged patriot in Philadel- 
phia expired. The day after the capitulation 
General Washington ordered " that those who 
were under arrest should be pardoned and set 
at liberty;" and announced, that " Divine ser- 
vice shall be performed to-morrow in the dif- 
ferent brigades and divisions. The commander- 
in-chief recommends, that all the troops that 
are not upon duty do assist at it with a serious 
deportment, and that sensibility of heart which 
the recollection of the surprising and particu- 
lar interposition of Providence in our favour 
claims." Congress, as soon as they received 
General Washington's official letter, giving 
information of the event, resolved to go in 
procession to the Dutch Lutheran church, and 
return thanks to Almighty God for the signal 
success of the American arms; and they issued 
a proclamation, recommending to the citizens 
of the United States to observe the 13th of 
December as a day of public thanksgiving and 
prayer. 



BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. 245 



BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. 

On the 22d of December, 1814, the British, 
having landed, took a position near the main 
channel of the river, about eight miles below 
the city. In the evening of the 23d, General 
Jackson made a sudden and furious attack upon 
their camp. They were thrown into disorder; 
but they soon rallied, and fought with a brave- 
ry at least equal to that of the assailants. Sat- 
isfied with the advantage first gained, he with- 
drew his troops, fortified a strong position four 
miles below New Orleans, and supported it by 
batteries erected on the west bank of the river. 
On the 28th of December, and the 1st of Janu- 
ary, vigorous but unsuccessful attacks were 
made upon these fortifications by the English. 
In the mean time both armies had received re- 
inforcements ; and General Sir E. Pakenham, 
the British commander, resolved to exert all his 
strength in a combined attack upon the Ameri- 
can positions on both sides of the river. With 
almost incredible industry, he caused a canal, 
leading from a creek emptying itself into Lake 
Borgne to the main channel of the Mississippi, 
to be dug, that he might remove a part of his 
boats and artillery to that river. On the 7th 
of January, from the movements observed in 
the British camp, a speedy attack was antici- 
pated. This was made early on the 8th. The 
British troops, formed in a close column of about 
21* 



246 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTOHY. 

sixty men in front, the men shouldering their 
muskets, all carrying fascines, and some with 
ladders, advanced towards the American forti- 
fications, from whence an incessant fire was kept 
up on the column, which continued to advance, 
until the musketry of the troops of Tennessee 
and Kentucky, joined with the fire of the artil- 
lery, began to make an impression on it which 
soon threw it into confusion. For some time 
the British officers succeeded in animating the 
courage of their troops, making them advance 
obliquely to the left, to avoid the fire of a bat- 
tery, every discharge from w^hich opened the 
column, and mowed down whole files, which 
were almost instantaneously replaced by new 
troops coming up close after the first : but these 
also shared the same fate, until at last, after 
twenty-five minutes continual firing, through 
which a few platoons advanced to the edge of 
the ditch, the column entirely broke, and part 
of the troops dispersed, and ran to take shelter 
among the bushes on the right. The rest re- 
tired to the ditch where they had been when first 
perceived, four hundred yards from the Ameri- 
can lines. There the officers with some diffi- 
culty rallied their troops, and again drew them 
up for a second attack, the soldiers having laid 
down their knapsacks at the edge of the ditch, 
that they might be less encumbered. And now, 
for the second time, the column, recruited with 
the troops that formed the rear, advanced. 
Again it was received with the same galling fire 
of musketry and artillery, till it at last broke 



BATTLE or NEW ORLEANS. 247 

again, and retired in the utmost confusion. In 
vain did the officers now endeavour, as before, 
to revive the courage of their men ; to no pur- 
pose did they strike them with the flat of their 
swords, to force them to advance : they were 
insensible of everything but danger, and saw 
nothing but death, which had struck so many 
of their comrades. The attack had hardly be- 
gun, when the British commander-in-chief, Sir 
Edward Pakenham, fell a victim to his own in- 
trepidity, while endeavouring to animate his 
troops with ardour for the assault. Soon after 
his fall, two other generals, Keane and Gibbs, 
were carried off the field of battle, dangerously 
wounded. A great number of officers of rank 
had fallen : the ground over which the column 
had marched was strewed with the dead and 
wounded. Such slaughter on their side, with 
scarcely any loss on the American, spread con- 
sternation through the British ranks, as they 
were now convinced of the impossibility of car- 
rying the lines, and saw that even to advance 
was certain death. Some of the British troops 
had penetrated into the wood towards the ex- 
tremity of the American line, to make a false 
attack, or to ascertain whether a real one were 
practicable. These the troops under General 
Coffee no sooner perceived, than they opened 
on them a brisk fire with their rifles, which 
made them retire. The greater part of those 
who, on the column's being repulsed, had taken 
shelter in the thickets, only escaped the batte- 
ries to be killed by the musketry. During the 



249 



BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 



whole hour that the attack lasted, the American 
fire did not slacken for a single moment. By half 
after eight in the morning, the fire of the mus- 
ketry had ceased. The whole plain on the left, 
as also the side of the river, from the road to 
the edge of the water, was covered with the 
British soldiers who had fallen. About four 
hundred wounded prisoners were taken, and at 
least double that number of wounded men escap- 
ed into the British camp ; and a space of ground, 
extending from the ditch of the American lines 
to that on which the enemy drew up his troops, 
two hundred and fifty yards in length, by about 
two hundred in breadth, was literally covered 
with men, cither dead or severely w^ounded. 
Perhaps a greater disparity of loss never oc- 
curred ; that of the British in killed, wounded, 
and prisoners, in this attack, was upwards of 
two thousand men ; the killed and wounded of 
the Americans was only thirteen. 




BATTLE OF PLATTSBURG, &C. 249 



BATTLE OF PLATTSBURG AND LAKE 
CHAMPLAIN. 

The march of the troops from Plattsburg 
having left that post almost defenceless, the ene- 
my determined to attack it by land, and, at the 
same time, to attempt the destruction of the 
American flotilla on Lake Champlain. On the 
3d of September, Sir George Prevost, the go- 
vernor-general of Canada, at the head of four- 
teen thousand men, entered the territories of 
the United States. On the 6th they arrived at 
Plattsburg. It is situated near Lake Cham- 
plain, on the northern bank of the small river 
Saranac. On their approach, the American 
troops, who were posted on the opposite bank, 
tore up the planks of the bridges, with which 
they formed slight breastworks, and prepared 
to dispute the passage of the stream. The Brit- 
ish employed themselves for several days in 
erecting batteries, while the American forces 
were daily augmented by the arrival of volun- 
teers and militia. Early in the morning of the 
11th, the British squadron, commanded by Com- 
modore Dow^ne, appeared off the harbour of 
Plattsburg, where that of the LTnited States, 
commanded by Commodore M'Donough, lay at 
anchor prepared for battle. At nine o'clock 
the action commenced. Seldom has there been 
a more furious encounter than the bosom of this 
transparent and peaceful lake was now called 



S50 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 

to witness. During the naval conflict the Brit- 
ish on land began a heavy cannonade upon the 
American lines, and attempted at different 
places to cross the Saranac ; but as often as the 
British advanced into the water they were re- 
pelled by a destructive fire from the militia. 
At half-past eleven the shout of victory heard 
along the American lines announced the result 
of the battle on the lake. Thus deprived of 
naval aid, in the afternoon the British withdrew 
to their entrenchments, and at night they com- 
menced a precipitate retreat. Upon the lal-e 
the American loss was one hundred and ten ; 
the British one hundred and ninety-four, besides 
prisoners. On land, the American loss was one 
hundred and nineteen; that of the British has 
been estimated as high as two thousand five 
hundred. 



ALGERINE WAR OF 1815. 

While the people of the United States were 
rejoicing at the return of peace, their attention 
was called to a new scene of war. By a mes- 
sage from the President to the House of Repre- 
sentatives, w^ith a report of the Secretary of 
State, it appeared that the dey of Algiers had 
violently, and without just cause, obliged the 
consul of the United States, and all the Ameri- 
can citizens in Algiers, to leave that place, in 
violation of the treaty then subsisting between 



ALGERINE WAR. 251 

the two nations ; that he had exacted from the 
consul, under pain of immediate imprisonment, 
a large sum of money, to which he had no just 
claim ; and that these acts of violence and out- 
rage had been followed by the capture of at 
least one American vessel, and by the seizure 
of an American citizen on board of a neutral 
vessel ; tiiat the captured persons were yet held 
in captivity, with the exception of two of them, 
who had been ransomed ; that every effort to 
obtain the release of the others had proved abor- 
tive ; and that there was some reason to believe 
they were held by the dey as means by which 
he calculated to extort from the United States 
a degrading treaty. In March war was de- 
clared against the Algerines. 

An expedition was immediately ordered to 
the Mediterranean, under the command of Com- 
modore Bainbridge. The squadron in advance 
on that service, under Commodore Decatur, lost 
not a moment after its arrival in the Mediterra- 
nean in seeking the naval force of the enemy, 
then cru'bing in that sea, and succeeded in cap- 
turing iwo of his ships, one of them command- 
ed by -he Algerine admiral. The American. 
comiTiander, after this demonstration of skill 
and prowess, hastened to the port of Algiers, 
where he readily obtained peace, in the stipu- 
lated terms of which the rights and honour of 
the United States were particularly consulted 
by a perpetual relinquishment, on the part of 
thedey, of all pretensions to tribute from them. 
The impressions thus made, strengthened by 



252 



BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 



subsequent transactions with the regencies of 
Tunis and Tripoli, by the appearance of the 
larger force which foliowed under Commodore 
Bainbridge, and by the judicious precautionary 
arrangements left by him in that quarter, afford- 
ed a reasonable prospect of future security for 
the valuable portion of American commerce 
which passes within reach of the Barbary 
cruisers. "^ 



THE END, 





° 01 1447 815 5 



